Gold Roses, Green Thorns
by Steven 'Janus' Apollo
Summary: Life can be rough. Especially when you realize you’re not like other girls your age. Especially when you’re a superhero. Especially when you realize that you are in love with one of your worst enemies. ButtercupxPrincess Ch. 9 is up.
1. Prolouge: Awakening

-1Author's Note: This story, I have to admit, is the result of a bet I made with myself recently; I wanted to see if I could or couldn't commit to and finish a multichapter tale. One-shots are nice, but I'm certain that it's a little lazy on my part to churn only those out while I'm here. If I can finish a full-length tale, then I've won a battle against my own perseverant streak, or lack thereof, that I've waged for many a year.

As to the story in question, yes it is going to eventually include femslash, the pairing of Buttercup and Princess Morbucks to be exact. If that isn't your cup of tea, turn back now; there's a mountain of other fics featuring each girl in het pairings (well, mostly Buttercup, but, you know.). If by chance you do enjoy this pairing, then I hope I don't mess this up.

Finally, I don't own the Powerpuff Girls, or any of the other characters here. If I did, I'd be rich, and I wouldn't even bother writing fanfiction, I'd be so very rich. Anyway, enjoy.

---

Prologue: Awakening

"_For the first time he perceived that if you want to keep a secret you must hide it from yourself."_

- From 1984

---

If Blossom loved winter and Bubbles loved spring, then fall was Buttercup's season. She loved to watch the leaves on Townsville's trees change from their almost uniform shades of green to that wide spectrum of colors- here yellow, orange there, red over there and then to brown as they fell.

A soft breeze blew down, ruffling the green eyed girl's short, black hair as she lay across the front lawn. She smiled contentedly, shutting her eyes. That was another great thing about the fall- not too cold, not too hot. There was just the right amount of sun, and the wind was still gentle and kind, not harsh and cold like winter.

What did Blossom see in winter anyway? Oh, right: she was the Ice Princess. Of course she liked winter. Buttercup could care less. Snowball fights were still wildly entertaining to her at sixteen, the rest she could do without. Leave it to her older sister to go off yammering about snow and the thousandsomethingth poem written by some dead guy about its beauty- just give her fall.

A timid male voice brought her abruptly back down to Earth: "Buttercup? I thought we were still studying together."

She opened her eyes slowly, to be greeted with the sight of the skinny, fair haired, bespectacled boy staring down at her. He was quite distressed, judging by the way he kept pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Sorry, Elmer." Buttercup muttered, rising to her feet and brushing some of the dirt off her jeans. "Guess I spaced off there for a minute"

"Um...actually it was twenty minutes." Elmer Sglue said forlornly, staring at his wristwatch. "Buttercup, I thought you said it was only going to a five minute break."

Buttercup sighed and shrugged, accompanying Elmer on his walk up the lawn and back towards the home the green eyed girl shared with her sisters, her father, and Sandy Keane, their mother by marriage. Everyone was supposed to be inside hitting the books. That was what she hated about fall: the start of the school year. It was nothing but a lousy waster of time anyway.

"I was bored." she said, following Elmer inside. "I mean, what kind of teacher assigns a math test on the first week of school? And why am I supposed to care about how to solve the slope of a line?"

"I'm not exactly sure about that either." Elmer responded. "The thing is, we have to know it for now."

Buttercup groaned. "Yeah..."

The two teenagers made their way into the kitchen. Bubbles Utonium, the youngest member of the Powerpuff Girls, was sitting at the kitchen table "studying" alongside her closest friend, Robyn Snyder. Both girls wore identical sundresses, Bubbles' blue with daisy print, Robyn's red with apple print. Both girls almost always dressed alike, shared the same interests, and had the same favorite hobbies: giggling, boys, and giggling about boys. From the look of it, that's exactly what they had been doing.

"Hi, Buttercup." the two chorused.

"Hey." Buttercup said, before turning her attentions to Elmer. "Do you really wanna keep studying here in the kitchen? We could head to the living room."

"Or we could go in your room." the bespectacled boy said, retrieving his and Buttercup's algebra books from the kitchen counter. Despite the fact that Buttercup could easily carry them, he always insisted on doing it. "It'd be further away from any background noise since it's upstairs."

As Buttercup nodded in agreement, Robyn and Bubbles erupted into a fit of giggles. The green Puff glared at them. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing really." Bubbles chirped, before giggling again. She put a hand over her mouth to stifle the laughter .

Robyn was fidgeting with her hands and blushing. "Oh...um...it's just...well."

"Mitch likes you." both said at the same time. They turned and looked at each other. "Did we both tell her out loud?" They broke into hysterics.

"Uh huh." Buttercup said. "That's nice." She began to leave, trying to ignore the fact that Elmer looked more than a little hurt by this statement. She hoped he wouldn't get depressed again. He was so sensitive and soft hearted for a boy.

"No, really, he does!" Bubbles called after her. "He called this house while you were outside!"

Buttercup wheeled around. "That doesn't mean anything, Bubbles. I just promised to meet him and the other guys for a quick round of soccer at the park." Since _his _parents don't think it's the end of the world if he doesn't obsess over school, she almost added.

"Oh yeah?" Robyn asked, fluttering her eyelashes suggestively. Buttercup felt heat rise into her cheeks at the sight. "Really? 'Cause he sounded really upset, like he couldn't live without you. I think he's _totally _into you."

"It's because I'm the best forward our team's got." Buttercup snapped, wondering why her face felt so hot. "I'm their star player. And for the millionth time, Mitch and I are just friends! Just friends, okay?!"

"Sory to bother you." the brown haired girl muttered, shaking her head forlornly. "Go ahead and be lonely the rest of your life." She leaned over to Bubbles and whispered in her ear. Buttercup heard every word of it. "You see her face? She's blushing. That means she likes him."

Bubbles didn't answer. She only giggled and looked over at her sister, who was averting her eyes. She was absolutely refusing to look at Bubbles or Robyn, especially not Robyn.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Elmer." the tomboy told her friend, who was a little red in the face himself. "Let's go."

It wasn't it at all, she repeated in her head as she and Elmer made their way upstairs to the bedroom she still shared with her sisters. She didn't know how to explain the way she felt...or the way she didn't feel about Mitch. Yeah, he did seem to like her a little, but she didn't feel the same way at all. She'd always felt like one of the guys when she hung out with him or any other boys and could never be anything else, didn't want to be anything else..

---

The Powerpuffs had long outgrown sharing the same bed, but the three sisters still shared the same bedroom. Each girl had a bed lying against a wall, and each had decorated the wall in a way that clearly spelled out who they were. Blossom, who was out shopping with the Professor and Ms. Keane, no doubt not needing to have studied at all, had plastered her wall with academic honors, certificates, a calendar marked with test dates, and the odd motivational poster. Bubbles had a large collection of posters, every single one of them sporting a celebrity she had a crush on, and a few photographs of her and Robyn standing by guys they had been "dating". Bubbles had drawn a heart around the boys in those photographs with a black marker along with "Me (Insert Boy Here) is Love." Buttercup's wall on the other hand, was a little sparse. She had a few posters of athletes, and the handful of medals she had won while on the track team tacked up on the wall, but that was it. She didn't see the point of putting anything else.

She laid out across her bed, while Elmer sat down in a plush chair near Blossom's side of the room. Both opened their algebra books. They paged through their texts silently for a span of time, Elmer reading about the point-slope formula, Buttercup only pretending to read.

Spiteful as it was, that was one reason she'd approached Elmer about being her study buddy: he couldn't multitask, therefore he concentrated on his studying instead of what Buttercup was doing...that, and he only occasionally asked her what she was learning or what she was having trouble with. It gave her the perfect excuse to space off.

"Buttercup?"

She looked up, glad to be relieved of staring mindlessly at page after page of math formulas. "Yeah?"

"Um...you did mean what you said about Mitch, right? About you guys just being friends?"

She shut her algebra book and regarded her friend, who had a deep frown creasing his face. Elmer was a little _too _sensitive sometimes. Mitch didn't beat him up or pick on him anymore, the two hardly talked to each other! Why did he still insist on fearing him?

"Elmer, Mitch is my friend. Just like you are. You're both great guys, I just..." She rolled over on her back and gazed up at the ceiling. "I...I don't know. I really don't wanna talk about it anyway. Can we study?"

Elmer sighed. It was obvious what he had been thinking about. "Alright, Buttercup. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to annoy you." He looked down at the ground.

"You're not annoying me." Buttercup informed the bespectacled boy. "Do you think I'd hang out with you if I thought you were annoying?"

"I guess not." Elmer said forlornly. "I'm sorr-"

"I said, you don't have to say you're sorry." she repeated, trying to hide her annoyance.

"Alright, Buttercup. Sorry."

The green Puff rolled back on her stomach and opened her algebra book back up. As much as she hated this stuffit looked like her only way out of an awkward situation.

"No sweat...again. Hey, Elmer, could you help me with this point-slope thing?"

That brightened her study buddy up instantly. Yes, Elmer Sglue was shy and overly sensitive (at least he no longer ate paste), but he was smart, and he loved to show it.

"Oh! Sure! See, the y1 value represents the second number. You're supposed to plug that in here..."

Buttercup sighed, letting Elmer's lesson on math fade out into dull background noise. She needed some time alone to herself. Something had occurred to her earlier on, though she wasn't quite sure what it was supposed to mean...or if she even wanted to explore the idea.

Robyn had been fluttering her long eyelashes right at Buttercup, almost flirtatiously. It gave her a chill to think about it. Then again, _everything _Robyn did with those beautiful, dark blue eyes and long lashes of hers made it look like she was flirting.

"Buttercup?"

There he went again. She must've let her eyes glaze over. Blossom said she did that fairly often, back when she'd been trying to tutor Buttercup.

"Yeah, I'm listening. So, I plug the second number where it says y1...x1 would be the first one, right?"

The two drifted off into a discussion about math formulas and numbers, variables and values, while the toughest fighter wondered if she had hit on something, something she had simultaneously considered and feared for a long time now. Her sisters had found a home in their hearts for the opposite sex. She had nothing.

Maybe...maybe she could have Robyn, a small voice at the back of her head told her.

No, that wasn't right. She'd heard every story in the book about what happened to girls like her...if that _was _her. The Professor would look down on her. Ms. Keane would be disgusted. Bubbles and Blossom would gloat, with a whispered "I told you so!" between them. Elmer would be devastated. And Robyn, sweet Robyn had a very active interest in boys, would run away from her.

She'd keep it to herself then. She'd hide it from herself She would know all the time it was there, but until it was needed she would never let it emerge into her conscious thoughts in any shape that could be given a name. No one could know.

--

And she would succeed for a long time after that. Any thoughts or secret feelings about Robyn would be kept silent. She learned to stop herself from blushing when Bubbles' best friend did something so insignificant as ask her for a spare pencil. She learned to keep herself from sounding too...involved when she'd toss the occasional compliment at the brown haired girl, even if she really wanted to stride up to Robyn, look into those blue orbs of hers, and let her know just how well that red dress brought out the russet undertones in her hair. She even made herself stop dreaming of Robyn, a Robyn who wasn't into boys and only boys, a Robyn who would accept her and love her back. If she ignored it all, perhaps these feelings would go away.

She would be proven wrong, soon enough. Soon they would return, try as she might to suppress them.

But she was right about one thing: it wouldn't be Robyn.

Little did she know, on another side of Townsville, another girl was having an awakening, if of a different sort, of her own.

It only stood for Fate to take its course now, wherever it might lead.


	2. Converging

-1"Girls! Breakfast!"

She snuggled deeper into her comforter, drawing the bed sheets around her. Just go away...

"Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup! Time to get up!"

She could hear her sisters rising from slumber now, Blossom stretching and rubbing sleep from her eyes, Bubbles yawning delicately and sitting up in bed. Let them get up: she was content to stay here forever.

"G'morning, Blossom!" Bubbles chirped.

"Good morning, Bubbles." Blossom answered in return.

"Girls?"

"We're coming, Professor!" the two chorused.

"Hurry up!" Ms. Keane called. "I made pancakes for everyone, and I'm sure you don't want them to get cold!"

"Pancakes!" Bubbles squealed happily, as she rushed out of the room.

Blossom hung behind, she observed. Great, here comes the razzing from her favorite older sister in the whole wide world, Buttercup thought darkly.

Sure enough, the red haired girl crossed over to her bed, a look of concern showing in her pink eyes. "Buttercup, are you feeling alright?"

"No, I'm not. Leave me alone."

Blossom placed a hand on her forehead. "Very funny." she said. "You're not running a fever, Aren't you hungry?"

Buttercup only pulled her green comforter over her head.

Without warning, Blossom narrowed her eyes and whipped the sheets off the bed. Buttercup sat up in shock.

"What the hell did you do that for?! Can't you see that I'm trying to sleep?!"

"Buttercup, it's time to get ready for school." Blossom responded. "Now come on, please?"

"Whoop-di-doo." She half rolled, half slid out of bed and rose to her feet. "Another total waste of my life."

"You say that now, but you'll change your mind." Blossom said as the two began to make their way downstairs to the kitchen.

"Of course you'd say that. You _like _school."

The red haired girl shrugged. "A bit. It was a little dull at first, though. Thank goodness they had college preparatory levels. I would've gone crazy in normal level classes."

"Whatever."

Professor Utonium, was already sitting down at the table with a newspaper and a mug of coffee. Ms. Keane was at the stove, happily finishing what was proving to be a large stack of pancakes, and Bubbles was already sitting down, treating herself to a large helping of pancakes and chattering away.

Blossom headed over to the kitchen counter, where a stack of plate was already waiting. She took one and held it out, as Ms. Keane gave her a much smaller stack of pancakes; Blossom was a light eater, at least in the mornings.

"There you go, Blossom." the black haired woman said warmly. "That's not too many, is it?"

"No, that's enough." Blossom responded. "Thanks, Ms. Keane!"

Ms. Keane had asked not to be called "Mom" Buttercup remembered as Blossom took her place at the table. She was under the impression that since the Powerpuffs had always called their creator "Professor" and not "Dad" and since she had been in their lives longer as a teacher or friend of the family than a parent, that it would be better if they just addressed her as they always had. She didn't want to make her daughters by marriage uncomfortable. She really wasn't, Buttercup thought, but whatever floated her boat.

"Buttercup?"

She looked down to see the stack of pancakes sitting on her plate. "Oh, sorry. Thanks." She plopped down at the table. Blossom was calmly eating and listening to Bubbles fuss over her new boyfriend.

"Oh, and here's the best part, Professor! John's family has a houseboat! And a motorboat! And a raft! And a dolphin! Well, not a dolphin, but dolphins sometimes come up to the boat, and they let John pet them! And here's the best part: John said I can come visit their houseboat and sleep over sometime!"

"Bubbles, you know what the answer is." the Professor responded, lowering his newspaper and looking at the blue eyed Powerpuff. He sounded a little wary.

The blond haired girl's face fell. "Not unless there was adult supervision." she recited glumly. "And even if there was, you'd have to meet John's parents first. And even if you met them, you'd still feel safer if I didn't spend the night."

"That's exactly right, Bubbles." her father said matter-of-factly. "I'm sure that a stay overnight on the ocean would be a great way to spend a weekend, but you have plenty of time to do things like that when you're out of the house."

"Yeah, I guess so." Bubbles sighed.

"Tough luck." Buttercup told her sister, playfully poking her in the side. "You could just sneak out of the house whenever you wanted to and fly over there. Or are you too afraid of being caught? _I_ wouldn't be."

"Buttercup!" the Professor and Ms. Keane said simultaneously. They looked at one another and began to laugh. They were kind of like Bubbles and Robyn, Buttercup observed. Immediately, she flushed.

"I guess I've been rubbing off on you, Sticky Bun." the Professor informed his wife fondly, tickling her chin.

Sandy Keane giggled, wrapping an arm around her husband's shoulders, her blue eyes shining mirthfully. "You'd be surprised, Teddy Bear. I practically helped raise the Girls and they've hardly changed. Buttercup's as feisty as you are."

The three sisters looked at each other and rose to their feet. Their parents were about to have a moment, and they didn't really want to be in the room for this.

Professor Utonium was blushing a little by now. "F-feisty? Me? You probably have the wrong man."

"You'd be surprised." Ms. Keane purred, planting a kiss on his lips. "You're as sweet as Bubbles is, and as smart as Blossom. I can see why the girls turned out the way they did; they had such a wonderful father to shape them."

Now Professor Utonium was red in the face. "Well, I...I...I..."

The sound of three teenagers speeding down the stairs and out the door was heard.

"Maybe we ought to take this upstairs, Science Shorts." Ms. Keane said flirtatiously, batting her eyelashes.

The Professor, as much of a smooth operator as he'd ever been, swallowed, trying to find his voice. "I...I...I...I...yes."

Husband and wife made their way up the stairs, sharing a kiss between them on the way up. It'd been almost seven years since they had finally married, and still the two hadn't gotten sick of one another. Blossom often said she'd love to be in that sort of marriage: two smart people who knew how to keep things fresh.

---

She leaned back on her vast four poster bed, letting her curly red hair spill out around her. It was only eleven in the morning, and already she was bored stiff. There was nothing good on any one of the 2,542 channels on her huge plasma television, she'd already finished going through her vast closet of clothes, then called up the stupid technicians at her Daddy's company about a thousand times to see if they'd finished her new powersuit already, and she hadn't gotten any phone calls of her own (big deal, she thought, like I'd waste my time with those common people.). There was nothing to do.

She reached over to her nightstand and began jamming one of the buttons there, a large, red one, which was situated near a microphone, repeatedly. "Alfred!" she called over the intercom. "Alfred, I need you! Alfred!"

It was about two minutes before her favorite butler appeared, looking very flustered and under the weather. "You called, Ms. Morbucks?" he asked, his usual formal voice sounding a bit phlegmy.

Princess didn't care that much. "You're late." she said, sitting up and narrowing her brown eyes at him. "Why are you late, Alfred?"

"Ms. Morbucks, forgive me, I seem to have a small case of the-"

"Whatever." Princess snapped. "Just bring me some chocolates, I'm hungry. And make sure they're dark chocolate this time, _Belgian _dark chocolate, not that cheap milk stuff. I think it's been making me break out."

Alfred started forward a few paces and turned around. "Ms. Morbucks, your tutor has been waiting for you downstairs for almost an hour now. Shouldn't you head down and start your lessons?"

"Maybe later." the red haired girl snapped. "Just bring me my chocolates."

"What should I tell Mr. Yoakum then, Ms. Morbucks?"

"I have no idea." Princess said. "Whatever makes him leave me alone; I don't feel like studying. Now go on, I'm told you I'm hungry."

As Alfred left, Princess got off of her bed and made her way across her huge, ornately decorated bedchamber, to one of the many mirrors she had hanging on her walls; this one was the largest of them. It reflected somewhat voluptuous a girl of sixteen with fair skin, curly red hair that stopped at her shoulders, and a smattering of freckles on her cheeks. She was wearing a gold blouse, a short, black and gold plaid miniskirt, shiny black high heels, and a small, gold tiara ornament in her hair.

It was a shame that her mirror, her servants, and her tutor were the only ones who were able to see how lovely she looked, Princess thought. If only she could attend a regular high school...no, she'd insisted on being pulled out herself. Those teachers wouldn't give her the special treatment she and the other members of the rich elite deserved, and the students wanted to talk to her like she was one of them. She had gone to that den of commoners for a week, then her Daddy had pulled her out and arranged for a tutor, thank goodness. Yes, she barely squeaked by on her home schooling because she never felt like studying, but why did that matter? All she needed to do was pass, then she could put this whole schooling thing behind her, give a year or two. It was worthless anyway: what was she studying for? The rich didn't have to work.

She crossed over to a window and pushed the curtains open. Townsville was already up and about, she observed from her spot inside Morbucks Manor. Cars and people alike were out on the road, getting where they needed to go today, be that work, school, or the stoops where the unemployed sad sacks hung. They all looked like ants, Princess observed. If only she was able to squish them like ants. Better yet, if only she could make those ants worship her.

_They'd worship me if I was a Powerpuff Girl_, she thought blackly. Instantly, her inner voice of reason, something she never thought she would be able to find spoke up. _That again, Princess? Get off of it, they don't want you, and you don't need them. You already have a steady career as a villainess, don't you?_

"I guess so." she muttered. Honestly though, she didn't see the glamour in crime as much as she used to. Back then it had been a childish game, a means to an end...but now she found herself thinking of what she'd originally wanted...

_Eleven years, and they still haven't listened to my only request. One day as a Powerpuff Girl, that's all I wanted. Selfish brats._

She sneered, drawing the windows shut. Just a thought of the Powerpuff Girls was enough to make a ball of bitterness rise up in her soul. How old would they be this year? Sixteen, like herself, she remembered. Sixteen and loved by everyone, while she hung back, reviled as a deviant, a girl who had already seen the interior of a jail cell far too many times, a girl who deserved the same sort of attention.

Princess crossed to her clothes closet, which was practically a room in itself, and made her way past the seemingly endless racks of outfits and to the back. From here she pushed aside a gold curtain at the back, to reveal a keypad. She inputted a sequence of numbers which caused the wall to slide back, revealing her newest powersuit: a gold and black body hugging number with a gold and pink visor, sleek, barely visible jetpack and gloves that had a few extra surprises hidden in case the super strength they lent her failed.

She began to pull off her civilian clothes and pull it on. She _would _have attention from the Powerpuffs, even if it was negative. She needed, no, _deserved _that attention. Besides, she could always throw in an offer to join them if she played her cards right...

Alfred arrived moments after Princess had flown out the window. She wasn't there to see it, but the butler gave a sad shake of his head as he sat the box of Belgian dark chocolates on her pillow. There was a look of pity in his eyes.

---

Buttercup knew she should be paying attention to Ms. Graham's lesson on _Beowulf_,. Already she was stuck with a C in this stupid class. She'd rather be in math class right now: Math was repetition and memorization of formulas: easy as pie. Literature was an old woman giving you a long passage from some dead guy's works and asking you what it meant. How was she supposed to know? It was an old story in old English, which was practically a foreign language in itself, Buttercup thought. It didn't mean anything, it was just boring.

Then there was the matter of the brunette sitting in front of her. Robyn's shampoo mingled with Robyn's perfume- Buttercup could smell it from where she sat. Her secret crush smelled of fruit and honey and flowers, a gentle aroma that took the black haired girl's thoughts completely away from Beowulf. Oh, how she'd love to lean over and sniff that hair until she passed out from giddiness, how-

_Snap out of it, Buttercup, you're doing it again._

She opened her eyes. Dang it, there she went, chasing daydreams. She heard Bubbles giggling somewhere on the other side of the room. She felt her face: warm. Her younger sister probably thought that she was daydreaming about Mitch. Not on your life, Bubbles, not on your life.

To make matters worse, Robyn chose this time to turn around, no doubt for some petty reason. "Buttercup?"

"Uh...yeah, Robyn?" she whispered, trying to banish the color from her face.

"Could I have some gum? My last stick lost its flavor."

_I'm already falling for you, and you can only think of me as the Gum Fairy_, Buttercup thought darkly, reaching into the pocket of her cargo pants and withdrawing a half-empty pack of Doublemint. She removed a stick and gave it to Robyn, who unwrapped it and popped it in her mouth.

"Thanks a ton." Robyn whispered. "You're so nice." That said, she turned back to her work. Ms. Graham hadn't even looked up during the exchange; instead she continued reading, droning on, and on, and on...

Buttercup felt something vibrate in her pocket. She shot a hand inside to withdraw a green cell phone. Bubbles, she could see was doing the same with her blue phone. Both girls rose to their feet, answering the call at the same time.

"Yes, Mayor?" they chorused. Blossom, who was off in Advanced Placement Biology could be heard over the line as well.

The Mayor of Townsville (how he'd hung around after eleven years, Buttercup had no idea) sounded panicked. "Powerpuff Girls, there's an emergency at Townsville Hall! I need your help to-"

"We're right on it, Mayor!" Blossom said, hanging up.

"I'm coming too!" Bubbles chirped.

"Yeah, I'm there." Buttercup said. With that, she and Bubbles put their cell phones away, hers in her pocket, Bubbles' in her purse, which she asked Robyn to hold, and made their way to the window.

"Ahem?" Ms. Graham coughed.

Bubbles and Buttercup halted. "Mrs. Graham, may we please be excused to fight crime?" they recited.

"You certainly may, girls." Mrs. Graham said, her tune changing immediately. "Have fun."

Bubbles and Buttercup required no further urging. They opened the window and flew out, as Mrs. Graham rushed to get the few curious transfer students who'd never seen flying girls before back in their seats.

---

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup managed to arrive in the Mayor's office at the exact same time. The dotty old man, who hadn't aged a bit visibly, was looking around the room nervously, sweat beading on his forehead. He brightened up as soon as the three teenagers came crashing through the roof.

"Oh, Powerpuff Girls, there you are!" the Mayor said. "There's an emergency-"

"Yes, Mayor, you said that over the phone." Blossom said. "What is it?"

Instantly, the old man revealed the large jar of kosher dills he'd been struggling with. "Could you help me open this?"

Blossom sighed. Buttercup slapped her forehead.

"You pulled us out of class for _this_, Mayor?" she grumbled. Damn it, here she was thinking there'd be the opportunity to beat the stuffing out of some criminals. A good fight always made her feel better, but it looked like Fate wanted her to suffer today.

Bubbles, on the other hand, sped over to the desk, took the jar, popped it open, and passed it back to the Mayor. In doing so, she noticed the pile of letters sitting on a corner of the desk.

"What are those, Mayor?" she asked. "Love letters? Do you have a secret admirer? "

The old man blushed a little, even as he withdrew a pickle from the jar for consumption. "I wish I did, but they aren't for me. Ms. Bellum keeps getting them in the mail and setting them there. I wish I knew why they made her so upset: girls used to love getting courted like that."

Bubbles picked up a letter from the stack. The letter writer had bold and blocky handwriting, and had smeared the ink of the letter a few times, as if he had forgotten how to hold a pen. Still, it was a cute letter. Something about how pretty the Mayor's assistant was and how the writer would steal all the oranges in the world for her.

"Oh, how cute!" Bubbles squealed. "I wonder who sent it?"

Just then, none other than Sarah Bellum appeared in the doorway of the Mayor's office. She carried another half-crumpled "love letter". "What the Mayor meant to say, girls, is that Princess Morbucks is robbing the Townsville Bank." the tall redhead stated.

"Princess Morbucks? Why didn't you just say so in the first place, Mayor?" Blossom inquired.

The old man looked a little depressed. "Well, I also needed this jar opened..." The Girls had already flown off. "Don't you girls want a pickle?" he called.

Bubbles sped back, took a pickle from the jar, and sped out. "Bye, Mayor!" she called.

"Goodbye, Bubbles." the old man called, uncertain if she had heard him or not. Such a sweetheart, even if she wasn't a little girl anymore. He hoped she always stayed that way.

---

So maybe she'd feel terrible about it later: right now, Princess was lost in the moment. She surveyed the terrified bank employees. They were right where she wanted them.

"Do I have your attention, peons?" she purred, falling back into her bratty persona, threateningly pointing a small laser aiming device embedded in one of her gloves at each one. "Good! Then listen up. If you don't want to end up as piles of ashes, I'd suggest you make like good little tellers and empty that vault."

No one was moving. One of the tellers' hands crept to the phone, only to see it instantly reduced to a small pile of black plastic sludge via the gold laser that'd fired from Princess's glove.

"No sir, there'll be no calling the cops while I'm here." the rich teenager said. "Now _empty the vault already_!"

Two employees went scrambling towards the vault and began inputting the combination, while two others ran to get bags to put the money in. A few more were still frozen in terror. Princess didn't care. They weren't needed for this; still it was fun to point the aiming device at them and wave it about while she waited for her cash. Idiots, did they actually think that she'd vaporize _their _skulls?

Just then, one of them pointed towards the front entrance. "It's-" he began.

"Not so fast, Princess!" Blossom and Bubbles shouted. They turned to their sister, who was standing there with her arms crossed. "Buttercup?"

"Yeah, not so fast." the green eyed girl said disinterestedly. Could they skip the formalities and get to the part where she beat this brat up?

Princess smirked. "The Powerpuff Girls, surprise, surprise. I guess you're not as stupid as I thought."

Buttercup strode forwards towards where Princess stood cockily, her face reddening with anger, her hands balled up into fists. "You're the stupid one," she snarled, unmindful of the fact that her sisters were holding back behind her, nonplussed and out of any danger. "You actually think that robbing a bank is going to make us want to let you in our group, you whining little brat?!"

Princess gave an odd smile. Buttercup realized her mistake too late, as the redhead aimed a kick to her stomach, causing her to double over in pain. She laughed, even as she dealt two more kicks to Buttercup's sternum. "I-" here a kick "don't care-" there a kick "-about that!" she said, happily assured in the fact that with her armor she was more protected than this girl was. "Forget being a hero, beating the tar out of you is too much fun."

In her glee at pounding on Buttercup, Princess left herself open from every other side. The redhead let out a cry of pain as two pairs of fists rammed her from behind. She spun around, shuddering from the impact, to face Blossom and Bubbles, neither of which looked very happy.

"If you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us, Princess." Blossom said.

"Yeah, play nice!" Bubbles snapped.

"_She _set herself up." Princess said nonchalantly, gazing upon the two sisters who were in a fighting stance, ready to pounce on her if she made one false move. "Oh, and you know-"

In a flash, Princess had pushed a small button embedded in one of the fingertips of her right glove. A net made out of gold light shot out, covering the two and pinning them to the floor.

"What the-" Blossom said, realizing that as much as she struggled, the bands of light held her and Bubbles fast.

"You like it?" Princess asked. "Can your stupid little 'super powers' do that?"

"No, but they can do this!" a gruff voice said behind her. Instantly, Buttercup Utonium flipped Princess over, causing the rich teenager to fall heavily on her stomach. Before she even had a chance to recover, the black haired girl was on her, pinning her to the ground with one hand, hitting her repeatedly in the small of her back with the other. Princess's armor was extremely durable, but as long as Buttercup could keep her pinned down...

Without warning, an electric shock came from the armor and jolted through Buttercup's body, causing the green Puff to go limp, just long enough for Princess to wriggle out from underneath her and aim an uppercut to her jaw. Buttercup winced, but not long enough to retaliate in kind.

The two girls rose to their feet, taking on a fighting stance. Even as they began to circle the other, they rose into the air; Buttercup by her own ability, Princess by her jetpack. They keenly regarded each other like wolves fighting over territory, waiting for one misstep, one false move...

The redhead flew forwards at her adversary, arms extended. Buttercup saw the lasers building in her palms, and dodged the twin gold volleys, allowing them to burn twin holes in the wall and Princess to go flying harmlessly past her.

The green eyed girl spun around to face her adversary. She narrowed her eyes. Yes, it was Princess she was facing off against, but for a moment she saw a multitude of faces, each of which she blamed in some part for her problems: Blossom, Bubbles, Ms. Keane... Robyn. That was enough to push her over the edge. Suddenly, she blamed Princess for Robyn not loving her. It was Princess's fault, and she had to be punished.

Even as Princess readied a counterattack, she could see that the tomboy meant business. As she realized this fact, Buttercup rushed forwards and head butted her in the stomach.

The rich girl flinched, even as Buttercup, finding super strength even she didn't know she had, pinned both her arms to the sides and landed a kick to her gut...and another...and another.

"Buttercup, don't!" Blossom cried, but her sister was beyond hearing her.

"Your fault." Buttercup snarled at Princess.

Even as the rich teenager puzzled over these words, Buttercup released her, only to aim a volley of punches to the jaw, to the chest, to the stomach, to the face. Princess heard something snap.

Still seething with rage, Buttercup reached around and ripped Princess's jetpack off. The redhead was suddenly flightless and helpless. If the green Puff let go...

That was exactly what she did. Buttercup watched Princess fall. She could be killed- who cared? This girl deserved it.

"Stop it!" Bubbles screamed. "Do something!"

_Oh my God!_

Buttercup broke from her trance and went into an aerial dive, catching the beaten Princess just inches before she hit the ground. The redhead was unconscious from the shock. A quick round of X-ray vision showed that she had a broken rib as well.

Blossom and Bubbles stared in puzzlement and horror at their sister, who sat on the floor, cradling her limp and inert enemy in her arms, looking like she was on the verge of tears.

"What have I done?"


	3. Recovering

She awoke.

It was dim in this room, cool too. She could hear a faint beeping sound, and the sound of breathing somewhere near her. Where was she?

She looked down at herself: she was wearing a green hospital gown and was tucked into a hospital bed. Even in the dim lighting, she could see that the room she was staying in was sparsely furnished, mostly whitewashed walls. Alright, so she was in the hospital...but why?

She winced: just thinking made bolts of pain come to torment her. Her head felt like someone had used it as a pinata, she thought, shakily raising a hand to feel it. In doing so, she caused another bolt of pain, this one much worse, to cut through her ribcage, as if someone was jabbing a knife in there...she'd taken a beating, she recalled, and it seemed to be worse than the other ones she'd had put together.

"I wouldn't try moving around too much.", a deep voice said somewhere near her. She squinted, trying to make out the figure in this light. They were sitting in a chair by her bed and had short hair...a boy? Yes, they were a boy, she decided. "You have a broken rib, plus I imagine you'll be pretty bruised up for the next few weeks.", the figure continued.

"What the heck did I...who are...where am I?", she said drowsily

"The hospital, although you probably won't be here that long.", her companion informed her. "Your worst injury is more of a fracture than an outright break, that's what the doctors told me."

She shook her head, ignoring the bolts of pain that came as a result. "I can't...it's hard to think...and I hurt..." A tear trickled down her face. "God, I've never been hurt _this _badly."

Her rescuer, that's what he was, she decided, sighed. "They gave you painkillers earlier on. Guess they're wearing off now: I can go make the nurses bring you more, if you want."

"No, no way. No one in the Morbucks family would ever stoop to using drugs.", she snapped. "I can wait this out, I'm tough."

He was laughing at her. "Oh, uh huh. Right, you're not in _any _pain, Princess."

"Pain comes in my line of work, you-", she sniffed, only to pause. "Who are you? Butch?"

He chuckled. "Close."

She reached out and grabbed his wrist, causing him to gasp. Instantly, the last trails of the fog of painkillers released their grip on Princess and she realized _exactly _who was sitting by her: Buttercup.

"_You_.", she sneered, pulling her hand away and looking away from her. "Let me guess, you came here to gloat."

"I wish.", Buttercup sneered back. "I came here to see if you were okay, your Royal Highness. It was the least I could do after...", here she trailed off, her voice breaking a little. "You know."

"Oh yes, after you beat me to a pulp and almost killed me.", Princess said, shakily sitting up in bed, her voice taking on its usual tone. "This is a new low for you, Buttercup: you beat me within an inch of my life, and then you come back with your tail between your legs, begging for forgiveness! You make me sick."

"I didn't want forgiveness!", the black haired girl snapped. "I wanted to see if you were alright. ecspecially since you aren't going to heal as quickly, plus I would've taken all sorts of crap from Blossom if-"

Princess was livid. "Oh, I won't heal as quickly! Yes, I forgot, you're a wonderful little bulletproof Powerpuff Girl, and I'm just the poor little citizen who gets to be talked down to and mistreated because she's the powerless villain! If that's all you had to say, why the-" Here she looked around, as if fearful that her father or someone else would come through the door. "Why the hell are you here then?", she finished, her voice dropping down to a whisper.

"I told you why already.", Buttercup said. "And allow me to ask you something: if I wanted to mistreat you, why did I allow them bring you back here? And why did I stuck around for about three hours to see if you were okay?"

"Because-", Princess began.

"The police wanted to throw you in jail!", the green eyed girl shouted. "Attempted robbery, that's what they were going to book you on. I asked them not to, seeing as one: you were hurt badly and two: you didn't really take anything. They'll listen to me, thank goodness."

Princess was not comforted by this revelation. "Oh, there you go again. 'You owe me, Princess'. 'Your life is in my hands, Princess', on and on and on! You three are all like a bunch of Talky Tina dolls: pull your string and you spout the same stupid little recycled phrases about love and justice and 'rescuing ' people like me at the last possible minute! If that's the Powerpuff way, then I'm glad I've never been allowed into your group!"

Buttercup was reclining back in her chair now, regarding Princess with calm green eyes. "Are you done now?", she asked.

Princess drew in a breath. "You-", she began. Just then, she saw the button out of the corner of her eye, on the wall behind her: "Press for Assistance". She smirked. "If you don't get out of my room this instant, Little Miss Perfect, I'll get the nurses down here and tell them you were bullying me: you wouldn't want that, would you?"

Buttercup rose to her feet, shrugging. "It's all the same to me. Suit yourself, if you want to wait it out here alone."

"Oh, and don't think this is the end of this.", Princess said, hovering a finger above the button and gradually becoming used to the pain inside her. "I'm telling my Dad- my father when he comes to see me, and he'll make sure you're punished, Buttercup. Don't think that Townsville won't listen to him either."

"Oh, how noble, using your father as an attack dog.", Buttercup responded. "In case you haven't noticed, Townsville's not exactly going to go easy on you or feel sorry for you, robberies or none. If you wanted to be the darling of this city, crime was not the way to do it."

"Get out."

"You don't have to say another word, Your Grace."

With that, Buttercup had let herself out the door, leaving Princess alone in the dimly lit room. The redhead sighed, gathering her composure, settled back onto her pillow and waited, with only her pain to keep her company. After a while, she jammed the call button repeatedly and smiled in pleasure at how the aides came running in the same fashion that her servants at home did.

"Get me some painkillers.", she told the two women who'd arrived there. "And if that black haired girl tries to visit, stop her. She's forbidden from entering this room."

The two hospital workers looked at one another, at Princess, and back at one another. They nodded and headed off, leaving the richest girl in Townsville alone once more. She didn't care. Her Daddy would come, he would. He always knew how to make things better.

---

Buttercup was at a complete and utter loss for words when she exited the hospital and walked down the street. Her mouth was working, she wanted to scream something, but she couldn't think of what to scream. So she did the only logical thing an angry young superheroine could do: she attacked one of the trashcans on the corner of the sidewalk, proceeding to turn it into a pile of twisted metal and yesterday's putrefying garbage.

"Hey why did you do that?"

She looked up to see a little girl of about five, probably one of the residents from the seedier parts of Townsville by the looks of her clothing. Why she was all the way up here, Buttercup had no idea.

"Buzz off.", she told the kid, and turned her back, shoving her hands into her pants pockets and walking on, towards the sunset. She could hear the girl's footsteps echoing behind her. Let her pursue her, she didn't care.

"That was cool!", the little girl was calling out. "Really cool! Do it again!"

Buttercup wheeled around angrily. "Hell no."

The little girl slowly approached her. Her lower lip was quivering. "B-but...I thought you were one of the..."

"Yeah, I'm one of the Powerpuffs, not a fucking trained seal.", Buttercup snarled, completely numb to the fact that her words made the little girl begin to sob. "Now scram, for the last time, or I'll _make _you scram. Don't think I can't do that."

The little girl needed no further urging. She ran away from Buttercup as quickly as her small legs could carry her, the sound of her sobs carried across the wind. The black haired girl shrugged. So it went, big deal. She'd get over it.

She continued walking, trying to make her trek back to her house as long as was humanly possible. What was the point in flying there? All that would be waiting for her when she got back home was a lecture from one parent, a smothering of affection from another, and a knowing eye from her two sisters. No thank you, she'd rather walk. Besides, when she walked, she could think.

She'd tell Robyn tomorrow, yes, maybe then she could quiet the storm brewing in her mind. The brunette might be taken aback, upset even, but Buttercup would try to help her understand. She'd _make _her understand, somehow. Of course, if it didn't pan out, at least she'd tried, right? She was sure it'd work out though, somehow. Ah, the joys of self-delusional thinking.

She stopped and sat down on a curb near the city post office, staring at her hands. They'd broken one of Princess's ribs earlier today, could they ever be a lover's hands? Sheesh, she was the group's fighter, not a lovesick teenager! Why did she even need to think of this crap? Look at Blossom, there was a girl that had an obvious interest in men and could have any guy she wanted, but she never brought it up, and from the look of it she never thought about it either. Buttercup sometimes liked to think that it was because Blossom was angsting over the fact that her perfect counterpart was out of her species (oh, a master of the perverted thought was Buttercup Utonium), but she was probably wrong. Blossom, in all likelihood, just didn't care. Why should she?

_Because..._ Buttercup thought, _because I just...she was my first-_

A piece of paper smacked her in the face. Immediately, she rose to her feet and pulled the scrap away from her eyes, knowing almost instinctively who the litterbugs would be. Sure enough, there they stood, the Amoeba Boys, in all their glory (or lack thereof), parked near one of the mailboxes.

"If I've told you guys once, I've told you a million times.", the black haired girl snapped. "If you're gonna throw paper around, could you at least watch where you're throwing it?"

Bossman, the three's leader, was eyeing the piece of paper Buttercup was waving about accusingly. "Um...yes...right.", he half stammered. For once, he and his henchmen looked nervous, not overjoyed to see Buttercup. "That one's different...it needs to go in the...the..."

"The mail?", Buttercup asked.

The three amoebae nodded. "Yeah, the mail.", they chorused.

She rolled her eyes. "Who could you three possibly want to send a letter to?", she asked, moving to read the paper. Instantly, Bossman headed over to where she was, fast as he could, and yanked the paper away.

"I gotta question of my own : what do ya think yer doin' snoopin' around in our personal business?!", the gray fedora clad amoeba demanded, folding the piece of paper in half as quickly as he could as if it contained some sort of terrible secret.

"Yeah, what?", the smallest of the three, Junior echoed.

Buttercup didn't say anything. Her hands were tightening into fists, though, little did she realize it. Bossman did, and instantly the would-be crime boss began to cower and back away from her, his two henchmen following suit.

"Uhehe...sorry about th-that.", he said, instantly apologetic. "Didn't mean ta raise my voice an'...go easy on us, if ya would...please?"

The green eyed girl raised an eyebrow. "What the hell is going on with you three? I thought you guys _liked _to get beaten up."

"We do...but after seein' what ya did ta Princess back there...", Bossman stammered, still backing away. "I think I might just feel safer gettin' yer sisters' attention..."

"Yeah, much safer.", Junior agreed.

"I thought you killed her!", Skinny Slim, the tallest of the three said, eyeing Buttercup. "Actually, we all sorta thought-"

"Wait a minute, how do you three know what happened to Princess?", Buttercup demanded.

That calmed the three amoebae down instantly. "We watched it through one of the bank windows.", Bossman explained, "We was thinkin' of robbin' the joint, but Skinny backed out at the last minute-"

"B-but ya didn't wanna go in there, either, Boss!", Skinny said, taken aback.

"Yeah, ya didn't!", Junior said.

Bossman turned on both of his henchmen. "Would you mugs just be quiet an' let me tell the story?"

"Yes, Boss.", the two chorused.

"As I was sayin,", Bossman continued, "we was gonna rob the bank, but Skinny backed out, an' then I realized we'd left the sacks ya use ta carry that...thing that buys the...I dunno, whatever they keep at a bank, back at our hideout, an' then Princess shoved right past us."

"So you just hung around by the window and watched the whole thing.", Buttercup said.

Bossman nodded. "Pretty much. An' then after ya creamed Princess...we hightailed it outta there. Point is...we sorta realized..."

"That I might actually do some permanent damage?", Buttercup said, between snorts of laughter. "You three are pathetic as usual: you're not human, so I couldn't possibly hurt you permanently, no matter how hard I tried. I don't even know where you get these idiotic ideas from anyway!"

"We just thought-", Skinny began, only to realize that Buttercup had turned her back.

"Ha, 'thought'. If you really want to stay on my good side, here's a suggestion: drop dead. You three are a waste of space, anyway." She began to walk away, leaving the three dumbstruck protozoa in her wake. Over her shoulder she called: "And in case you were wondering, I don't care about you three's stupid letter anyway."

"It's not a letter!", Skinny called. "It's for our cr-" Here, the brown fedora clad amoeba found himself being clocked over the head by a far-from-amused Bossman.

Buttercup hadn't stuck around to see, the trio realized. In a moment, they saw a green streak go tearing across the sky and out of sight.

"Waste of space indeed.", Bossman muttered, dropping the letter into the mailbox. "Remind me, won't you, Skinny, Junior: we ain't dealin' with Buttercup no more."

"Got it, Boss.", the two chorused. That decided, the three "Townsvillains" slunk off towards their hideout to catch some shuteye.

---

_The stupid button_, Princess thought, pressing it again and again , _this one hardly gets any results!_

How many times had she jammed this thing today, 50? It took those nurses three times as long to attend to her as the servants at her house did. Every time it was the same old excuse: "There's other patients in this wing besides you, Miss Morbucks." True, but there weren't any other patients as _important _as she was here, Princess decided. Why couldn't they just accept that and go on?

But _no_. It was more necessary to make her wait and suffer here in this bed, while the old grandpa in the room across from her had his bedpan changed or the little brat in the room next to her got a glass of water. It wasn't this way at her house! People recognized her needs, how important she was: why not here?

Worst of all, her Daddy hadn't shown up yet. In fact, her Daddy hadn't even called or given a hint that he was going to call. Okay, so she and him hardly saw each other during the day, sometimes went for weeks on end without speaking, but this was a special circumstance! Didn't he care that his daughter, his most special possession in the whole wide world, was lying in a hospital bed with a broken rib? Or was he too busy again? Was he too busy to come to her when she needed him? That wouldn't be like Daddy Morbucks, would it?

She'd gotten no visitors that night, not even so much as a phone call. The kid in the room next to her, had a broken leg or something, his parents came over and sang him to sleep. The walls were thin, so she ended up hearing the whole, over sentimental thing. Sickening. She'd never needed anyone to sing her to sleep, let alone comfort her over anything, not when a pile of money could say so much more. Alright, so one of the maids used to tuck her in to sleep and kiss her better when she fell down, but that was when she was very small, before she started kindergarten. Things changed.

Who was she to complain if none of the servants or her Daddy visited? She could always scream at them later for it, that always made her feel better, plus she'd be showered with gifts and extra favors for a while. Besides, if they were to come over, there's the small chance they- well, the servants anyway- could come empty handed. Then what'd their excuse be? They did it out of love? No way. Princess had no need for love, be it parental or that boy-girl stuff she was supposed to be into at her age. Princess never had any real use for boys, and she didn't have much use for girls either. Princess only had use for Princess.

She pressed the call button as hard as she could, creating a loud, grating buzzing noise. Already she was becoming used to the bolts of pain she felt when she moved, a small price to pay for a little assistance.

Almost instantly, a wide eyed nurse ran into her room. She looked as if she'd been jolted out of slumber. "Um, yes, Miss Morbucks?"

"Bring me some hot cocoa.", Princess said. "And make sure it's imported, I am not drinking that cheap stuff you tried slipping me last time."

The nurse looked a little taken aback. "Miss Morbucks...we really can't..."

"What, you're out of cocoa?", Princess asked. "That's fine, bring me some chocolates instead. Just make sure they're-"

"Miss Morbucks, I'm not sure what kind of hospital you think this is.", the nurse said. "We only serve one kind of cocoa here, the sort that our distributor supplies us with. I don't know how things work at your home, however, here-"

"I don't care about that.", Princess snapped. "Just bring me what I asked for, okay? I'll wait all night if I have to."

The nurse nodded and left.

As it was, Princess did wait all night. The redhead laid there in silence, with nothing but the beating of her own heart and the snoring of the boy in the room next to her to keep her company. She would see to it that that particular nurse was fired, she thought before she drifted off to sleep, partially out of necessity and partially out of her own boredom.

That night she dreamed of fighting Buttercup. And winning.

---

"Who are you writing to, Bubbles?", Buttercup asked, gazing over her blonde sister's shoulder. The joy and the laughter of the group was clad in a silky blue nightgown and was sitting at her vanity's desk, penning what looked like the start of a love letter.

"It's a secret.", Bubbles responded, continuing to write.

Buttercup shrugged and sat down on the bed. So far, so good. She hadn't turned up for school at all after that fight, but her makeup work had been minimal, nothing she couldn't finish on the morning bus (she did that a lot anyway). She hadn't been past curfew at all. In fact, Ms. Keane had praised her for being kind and keeping Princess company in the hospital, and Professor Utonium remarked how generous she was being, even to someone who she often fought against. It probably helped that she left out the part about how badly she'd beaten Princess. In her version of the story, the one she'd told to her parents, what happened had been an accident. They swallowed it, thank goodness. Evidently Blossom and Bubbles hadn't said otherwise.

As for her sisters, Bubbles hadn't said a word about what had gone on, thank goodness. Nice, forgiving Bubbles, Buttercup probably could've reduced someone to a stain on the wall, and she'd still forgive her. Her naiveté, annoying as it was, came in handy sometimes.

It was Blossom who seemed upset, naturally. She had hardly spoken to Buttercup since she had arrived back home, instead choosing to pull on her pink pajamas, stretch out on her bed, and read, only occasionally eyeing Buttercup suspiciously. It was better than a lecture, the green eyed girl figured.

"So, who're you writing it to?", Buttercup asked Bubbles again, knowing very well that she was completely incapable of keeping even the smallest secrets when it came to boys. "John?"

"Oh no, not John, we talk face-to-face.", Bubbles responded, not looking up from her writing. "It's for...well..." Here she sat down her pen. "Promise you won't laugh?"

"Okay.", Buttercup said. Funny, usually Bubbles took a little longer before she revealed anything to Buttercup, about five minutes at the least. "Well?"

"It's for the Mayor.", Bubbles said, giggling a little when she saw the shocked looks on both of her sisters' faces. "Well, it's not a _real _love letter.", she explained, "it's just I noticed how Ms. Bellum has a secret admirer who writes her love letters, and I thought it was kind of unfair that the Mayor doesn't. I'm just trying to be nice."

"Um...okay.", Buttercup said, raising an eyebrow and backing away to grab her pajamas: an oversized green T-shirt and boxers. "Whatever floats your boat."

Blossom, on the other hand, was a little warmer about it. "That's really nice of you, Bubbles. Don't you think that he or Ms. Bellum might be able to recognize your handwriting, though?"

"I thought about that.", Bubbles said. "That's why I'm writing in cursive instead of print like usual. Also, I'm not signing 'Bubbles'. I think I'll put a fake name. How about 'Harmony Bunnysworth'?"

Both Blossom and Buttercup laughed out loud at this one.

"That's the worst name I ever heard.", Buttercup said, pulling on her nightclothes. "If you're gonna use a fake name, at least use one that isn't so lame sounding."

"I think it's pretty.", Bubbles said. "Besides, I based it off of Harmony Bunny. Now would you say it was a dumb name if I signed myself as 'Mange', Buttercup?"

Buttercup groaned. "Not that again..."

"Or you could just sign 'Your Secret Admirer', couldn't you?", Blossom suggested, not looking up for a moment from her textbook.

Bubbles nodded. "Oh yeah, that's a better idea." She returned to writing, now signing her name. "Your...secret...admirer. There we go!" She folded it up and put it in an envelope she had lying on her desk. "Now all I need to do is mail it tomorrow!"

That said, the blonde haired girl zipped over to where her bed waited and jumped in. Blossom followed suit, placing her book on the nightstand and tucking herself in. Buttercup was the last to do so, whipping the sheets off, flopping on the mattress and pulling them over herself.

The sound of footsteps ascending the stairs could be heard as Professor Utonium and Ms. Keane both leaned inside to make sure the three were in bed. "Good night, girls.", they chorused, as the Professor turned off the light and the two made their way to their bedroom.

Buttercup sighed, staring up at the ceiling. This had been one of the most stressful days of her life. Would there be any relief at all?

"Oh, um, Buttercup?", Bubbles asked, moments later, answering her mental question.

"Yeah?"

"Robyn wanted to talk to you.", Bubbles said.

"Me? What for?", Buttercup inquired, trying to hide the excitement in her voice.

"Well, I don't know.", Bubbles responded. "She said it was really urgent and for your ears only , but you never showed up, so she said she'd wait until tomorrow. She wants to meet you by the cafeteria courtyard out back during lunch. Robyn and I go there to gossip since no one else likes to go there, so she said nobody else could hear you and her."

"I...I'll be sure to go.", Buttercup responded.

Instantly, the guilt and pain she'd felt today, plus the awareness of Blossom's quiet anger at her, what might be Bubbles's way of coping with being upset, and the awareness of all the terrible things that she herself had said faded away, to be replaced with a icy calmness. Robyn knew, she must have figured it out already. It could only improve from here, Buttercup decided, it could only improve from here.

---

That night she dreamed of walking along a beach holding hands with Robyn, the two an official couple. It was only at the high point of the dream, when the two moved in for a kiss, that Buttercup realized something had happened.

Robyn had turned into Princess, and was staring at her with deep brown eyes that were somehow sad and accusing, all at the same time.

She awoke feeling terribly guilty. But why? Besides the obvious, of course.

Did she actually feel sorry for that girl at one point? Had she?

Deep in her heart, she knew the answer: yes.


	4. Confessing

, she thought, checking her heartbeat, 

Robyn looked more lovely than she'd ever looked on any other day. The brunette had brushed her hair until it sparkled in the sunlight, revealing its red undertones, and tied it back with a red scarf. She was wearing a short, red dress that just barely passed dress code regulations, and burgundy high heels. Her face was perfectly accented with just the right amounts of makeup, and she was wearing a new kind of perfume, Buttercup noticed. It smelled like apples.

The brown haired girl shifted a little on her spot on one of the outdoor benches in the courtyard. She blushed a little, giggled, blushed again. Still, she didn't say anything, hadn't said anything for a full two minutes since she and Buttercup had arrived here. It would seem that Robyn was as nervous about confessing as she was.

Buttercup paced around the courtyard for a little while, waiting for Robyn to speak up, Seeing that she probably didn't plan to anytime soon, the black haired girl sat on the bench across from her crush, deciding to break the silence herself.

"So, um, what's so funny?", she inquired.

Robyn looked up. "Oh! Well...you look like a boy, for one thing."

Buttercup looked down at herself. She'd decided to do a little dressing up of her own; she wore a light green button down shirt, dress khakis, a black leather belt, and black leather loafers. Add to this the fact that she had spiked her hair with gel, never wore any makeup, and had a naturally boyish figure, and yes, she could see where Robyn was coming from on this one.

"Yeah, I guess I do." She paused, noticing how her heart was starting to beat a little faster. "Would you prefer I dressed differently then?"

Robyn laughed out loud. "Buttercup, who am I to tell you what to do? Besides, you look...nice in boy's clothes. Kind of handsome, actually." Here, she blushed a little.

Buttercup turned red. "Handsome...thanks. Why are you all dressed up for?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, it just seemed appropriate..." Here, she began giggling again.

Green eyes looked at mirthful blue ones in confusion. "What now?"

Robyn shook her head. "Oh, it's just, I came here to tell you something important, and all I can do is gawk at you and make small talk! What is wrong with me?"

"Don't worry, I'm kind of nervous about this too.", Buttercup blurted out without thinking about it.

The brunette looked at her in confusion. "Nervous? Why are you nervous?"

Alright, so maybe this business was a bigger deal for Robyn than for her. "I dunno, I just never get into these kinds of conversations."

"I figured as much.", Robyn said. "I mean, you hardly have any girlfriends when I see you, it's always boys. No wonder you aren't used to this sort of talk. I mean, you can't exactly spill your darkest, deepest secrets to a boy, can you? They wouldn't understand!"

Buttercup nodded in agreement, her thoughts floating to Elmer and how he might react after discovering what was going on. "Yeah, they probably wouldn't."

"I was going to tell Bubbles about this, like I usually do", the brown haired girl continued, but I figured, what if she freaks? She and I have trusted each other for eleven years, what if she ditches me after she finds out the news? And then I thought I might go to Blossom, but she'd probably get even angrier. You know how she is, and this sort of thing...she'd try and talk me out of it."

The black haired girl laughed. "Yeah, she probably wouldn't see it coming, not in a million years."

"Actually, _I_ didn't see it coming there for a long while.", Robyn said, giggling and batting her eyelashes at Buttercup. "It just sort of hit me like a ton of bricks about a week and a half ago, and ever since...well, I haven't been the same girl."

"Speak for yourself.", Buttercup muttered.

Robyn looked at her in confusion. "You feel the same way I do?"

Screw trying to keep her feelings under control, Buttercup let herself go beet red. "Actually...I sort of do. I know it seems oddly convenient, telling you after you were about to tell me, but to be honest, I've felt...I really don't know how to say it...this way for almost a month now, ever since-" She paused. Robyn was looking down at the ground and weeping quietly. "Robyn?"

The brunette looked up slowly. "Why didn't you say something? Now you'll be mad at me."

Buttercup looked at her in confusion. "_Mad_? Robyn, why would I be mad at you?"

A tear trickled down the brown haired girl's cheek. "You've had these feelings longer than I have. I have no right...ecspecially since you have super powers, which means, oh-" She began to cry again.

Buttercup rushed over to the bench Robyn sat at and sat down beside her, placing an arm around her shoulder. She sat there and let the brown haired girl cry for quite a while before she spoke up. "Robyn, you just realized it later than I did! There's nothing wrong with that!"

"Yes there is!", Robyn said between sobs. "Yes there is! You had first dibs, and I'm just a lousy, normal girl who didn't wake up soon enough, and...and..." She began to sob even louder, leaning on Buttercup's shoulder.

Robyn didn't realize it, but Buttercup leaned over and planted a small kiss on top of her forehead. "Look, it's a mutual thing, hasn't what I said proved that?", she asked the brunette. "Now that we both know, there's no reason why we can't-"

Robyn pulled away. "Buttercup, are you nuts? We can't share Butch between us!"

Here she also pulled away, her green eyes wide with shock. "What the hell? Butch?"

Oh dear God, dear God, Buttercup was not a religious person by any means, but she was carrying out the same mantra in her head now. Dear God, is that why Robyn had been giggling and blushing like a schoolgirl when she looked at her? Because she had been thinking of Butch?

Worse, Buttercup realized, _Robyn had been imagining Butch in her place the entire time_. If her crush had felt that kiss she'd planted on her forehead, she probably imagined it was Butch, that thick headed, foul mouthed, ill tempered male version of her, giving it!

"No...", Buttercup said, sliding away from Robyn and off of the bench, rising to her feet. "No, you...you can't. Just no."

"Buttercup, why are you getting so upset?", Robyn asked. "If he's your boyfriend, I have no right to take him! You've already won! Heck, _I_ should be the one who's getting upset!"

"That asshole is not my boyfriend!", Buttercup shouted at her companion. "And frankly, he should never be yours, Robyn. You don't deserve him."

Robyn got to her feet and crossed over to where Buttercup now stood, leaning against a tree. "What do you mean 'I don't deserve him'?! Are you saying I'm not good enough for someone like Butch?"

Buttercup shook her head. "Butch isn't good enough for someone like you, Robyn. You don't deserve him, you're worthy of someone who can treat you with respect and kindness, not someone who'd probably treat you like a punching bag!"

"You're just saying that.", Robyn said, placing one hand on her hip. "Face it, Buttercup, you're just possessive of your crush, aren't you?"

Here the black haired girl began to laugh. "Possessive? My _crush_? Robyn, do you know a thing about how the Rowdyruff Boys work?"

The brunette shook her head. "Well, not really. I see them flying around sometimes, and I ran across them when they were vandalizing the side of the ice cream parlor: that's when Butch and I locked eyes, see-"

"There you go.", Buttercup said. "Vandalizing. Stealing. Goofing off. That's what the Rowdyruff Boys do, and that's all they'll ever do. They're villains, and not terribly bright ones at that. What makes you think that Butch, let alone any of those three, would be a good choice of a boyfriend?"

"Well, I-", Robyn began, "Well, I...well, I-"

"'Well I, well I, well I!'.", Buttercup mocked. "If that's all you're going to say, there's your answer right there! Butch is not worth your time, and he'll never be, so your best plan is to forget about him and go on!"

Robyn frowned. "Who are you to tell me who I can and can't date, Buttercup? If I knew any better, I'd say you were jealous of _Butch_!" Here she regarded the black eyed girl curiously. "Are you all right? You _are _all right, aren't you, Buttercup?"

Buttercup didn't say anything. Instead, she turned and ran, leaving a very shocked and upset Robyn in her wake.

"Buttercup, what are you-", the brown haired girl, realizing what she'd just said, shouted after the departing black haired girl. "I'm sorry, I didn't know! I didn't mean to! Buttercup, come back!"

The green eyed girl was beyond hearing her. She didn't want to stick around and hear any of it. She ran as fast as her legs could take her, past the courtyard, past the flagpole, towards the school. She almost knocked over Mitch Mitchelson, who was making his way towards the courtyard himself; it was the best place to hid when one cut class.

"Hey, would you watch where you're going!", he cried out as the speeding Buttercup bumped against him. There was no response, though, he noticed. "Buttercup?", he called.

She didn't turn around. Not only did she not feel like talking to Mitch at all, she didn't want him to see the tears that had were beginning to spring up in the corners of her eyes.

---

Of the three girls, Bubbles's schedule could be said to revolve around one thing: her hair. She had paid careful attention to it as a child, and even now she obsessed over it, fussing over it in the morning, primping it after lunch, fixing it up after gym, brushing it out before she went to bed: repeating the same cycle each day. After lunch, she always went to the same place: the girl's lavatory at the end of the science hall. It was usually empty for a good while, so she could untie her pigtails if needed, brush out any snags, and retie her hair in peace.

That wasn't going to happen today, the blonde realized quickly, as she heard the low sobs coming from the handicapped stall behind her. She paused, holding her hairbrush in one hand, one of the blue ribbons she tied into her hair in the other.

"Hello, who is it?", she called. "What's wrong?"

The girl who'd been crying fell silent. Evidently, she had also come here to be alone.

Bubbles was approaching the stall now, her blue Mary-Janes clicking on the tile floor. "You can come out, I'm not going to make fun of you."

Still no response. Bubbles decided to try a different approach.

"Are you hurt?"

Silence.

"Is it about a boy? 'Cause if it is, don't worry, I come in here to cry too, sometimes, and-"

She approached the stall and pulled the handle experimentally. It was unlocked, the blue eyed girl realized, as the door swung open, revealing Buttercup, who had tucked herself into a corner of the stall. Tears were drying on her cheeks, Bubbles noticed, and more fresh ones were flowing. Her sister looked awful.

"Buttercup? Is that you?"

"Go 'way.", the black haired girl muttered, turning away from her sister and towards the wall.

Bubbles wasn't about to do anything her sister told her today, not when she looked like she was really hurting inside. The blonde girl made her way to where Buttercup was slouched, and crouched down, careful not to let her skirt touch the bathroom floor. "Buttercup, what's going on?", she asked. "You can tell me: I won't say anything, I promise!"

"You're just saying that.", Buttercup responded, her voice muffled. "You can't keep a secret, everyone knows that's a fact."

Bubbles shook her head. "No, Buttercup, I can't keep secrets about things that make me _happy_! I can keep one about something like this, because obviously it's making you sad! And if you're sad, I'm sad too! And I hate it when you're sad! Now please, I promise I won't tell, I swear it!"

Buttercup only pressed herself closer to the wall. "What's the point? Talking won't make it go away."

"No, but it might make you feel better.", Bubbles said. "Really, it will. Sometimes, when one of my boyfriends dumped me, I'd have a good cry, then I'd tell everything to Robyn-"

Buttercup let out a low sob.

Bubbles's eyes widened. "Buttercup? Is it about Robyn? Did she say something to you?"

Buttercup turned to face Bubbles. Her eyes were still swollen and red from crying, but the tears weren't flowing anymore. When she spoke, it was obvious that she was trying her hardest to keep the tears from coming back. "Bubbles...sheesh, it's just-" Here she shuddered, trying to stave off more tears. "I loved her! I thought she loved me too! But I was wrong..."

Bubbles did something Buttercup hadn't exactly been expecting just then: she leaned forwards and pulled her sister into a hug. "It's okay, Buttercup. I know. I thought she was gonna let you down gently...guess that didn't happen."

Buttercup pulled herself out of the embrace, blinking rapidly. "You knew? Then why- how-"

"I figured it out.", Bubbles said. "It was pretty obvious to me, the way you always acted when Robyn would come near you. I saw myself there, the way I'd act when I had my first boyfriend, Josh."

"Like that person is the only person in the world that matters.", Buttercup finished. "You want to focus on them and only them."

"Uh huh.", Bubbles said. "I put two and two together pretty quickly. I'm not as dumb as you and Blossom seem to think I am."

"We never said you were dumb!", Buttercup snapped, rising to her feet.

Bubbles followed suit. "You guys treat me that way sometimes: it's alright, though. As long as I know I'm not, I'm good." She sighed. "Buttercup, I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier. It's just...whenever anyone points out something's up with you, you get really defensive and start denying it like crazy, plus I figured you probably thought you were gonna end up like Ariel."

Buttercup nodded. Ariel Barnes had been a girl of about fifteen that the Professor had recruited to baby-sit the Powerpuffs on a few rare occasions, back when they were still children. It wasn't until later that Buttercup found out, by listening in on one of Ariel's phone conversations, that the girl was living at a friend's house. Her parents had kicked her out of her own house for being a lesbian.

"Yeah, I guess.", Buttercup said, making her way to a mirror and running some cold water. "You know how the Professor is, though: he hardly knew how to talk to Blossom when she got her period early. How the hell would he cope with having a lesbian daughter?"

"The same way he copes with everything that happens to us.", Bubbles said as Buttercup splashed water on her face. "The Professor and Ms. Keane both, they love all three of us the same, and they always will. You just have to believe that."

Buttercup stared into the mirror, making sure it was hard to tell if she'd been crying. "Bubbles, it's easy to say anything, but _doing _it-"

Bubbles placed a hand on Buttercup's shoulder. "I won't tell anyone until _you _want to tell them.", she told her sister. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

Buttercup turned to Bubbles, grinning. "Stick a needle in your eye?"

"I'd go for ten if I had to.", the blonde responded. She put her head to one side as the 4th period bell sounded. "Do you wanna go home, or stay here at school?"

"I'll wait it out here.", Buttercup said. "There's only biology class left to endure anyway." She closed her eyes, as if remembering something else. "Tell Blossom I won't be coming back home with you.", she told the blue eyed girl. "There's something I gotta do around town first."

Bubbles looked at her curiously, before a look of recognition appeared in her eyes. "Oh, _that_. With Princess?"

Buttercup nodded. "Yeah, I feel like crap about the way I treated her."

"She probably won't be happy to see you."

"I know. She wasn't too happy the first time I visited her anyway."

"Blossom's not very happy with you either."

"I figured as much.", Buttercup said. "I guess I'll deal with her afterwards." She started forwards towards Biology. "Race you there?"

Bubbles nodded. "You're on."

Laughing, the two girls half ran, half flew down the hall towards their next class. It was a tie.

---

During the same time that Buttercup learned a painful truth that should have been obvious, Princess Morbucks discovered some truths of her own that should've been self-evident long beforehand. It started the morning she woke up, her first morning in a hospital. A doctor, a man about in his sixties, was standing over her, taking notes down on a clipboard.

"Who are you?", she'd muttered groggily. "Where's my father? Did he call during the night?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, he did.", the doctor responded. He gazed at Princess's chest; she almost reached out and slapped him before she realized that it was her ribs that he was focusing on. "Breathe in.", he instructed.

She obliged, wincing a little bit. Still, it didn't hurt as badly as she thought it would have. "What'd he say?"

"He's very sorry about what happened to you, but he's a little too busy to bother with it at the moment.", the doctor recited. He reached out, pressing on Princess's ribcage. "Does that hurt?" She shook her head, he pressed a little more firmly. "And that?" She nodded, a bit of the color drained from her face. He jotted something down on his clipboard.

"Did he say anything else?", Princess inquired, wondering why the doctor wanted to torment her like this. It wasn't like her Daddy to refuse to make _any _attempt to help her, after all.

"He'll send a servant over with some money later on.", the doctor said. "That was it, as far as I can remember."

Princess shook her head. "No, no. No way. I don't want a servant, I want _him_. I want my Daddy." She paused, wondering if she'd sounded too childish to the doctor. If he thought so, his expression gave no indication of it whatsoever.

"From the sound of it, your father's quite a busy man.", he responded. "I can't do anything to make him come over to your side if he's unable to, can I?"

"You can.", Princess said. "I'm sure you can, you just have to bug him enough. And even if you can't, he'll have to come, he'll just _have _to eventually. He loves me too much to just leave me, you'll see."

"Whatever you say, Miss Morbucks.", the doctor said, an air of resignation in his voice. "I do have some good news, if you'd like to hear it."

Princess sat up in bed a little at this news. "Yes? Well, what is it?"

"Today will probably be your last day here, all things willing.", the doctor responded. "Your rib is fractured, but not extensively so as you seem to believe. Of course, you probably would be better off not moving around as much for a few weeks once you arrive home, and...well, may I be frank?"

The redhead looked at him in confusion. "Frank? About what?"

"Well, I advise you to stay away from bank robberies for a while, Miss Morbucks.", the doctor said. "Of course, I shouldn't have room to talk, it's something you've been into without serious injury for...how long now?"

"Eleven years.", Princess responded, grinning proudly. "I was always advanced for my age, you know. How many other five year olds could mastermind a crime, hmm? Well?"

"None that I know of.", the doctor responded, scratching his head. "Still, Miss Morbucks, considering that you received a fracture that might have turned into a punctured lung now, plus a number of other beatings over the years, judging by what I've been told, I'd suggest staying away from crime if you want to prolong your lifespan. I'm sure there's numerous other jobs a young lady such as yourself could-"

Princess stopped him with a wave of her hand. "No way. Work is something people like you have to do, I don't. Besides, my armor almost always protects me: that broken rib only happened because one of the Powerpuffs happened to go berserk. I'm getting a new, better powersuit built even as we speak- if Buttercup tries anything again, she'll be sorry."

The doctor gave her an odd look. "So you say, Miss Morbucks. However, if I see you here again, don't say I didn't warn you..."

"If you know what's good for you, leave.", Princess said.

"I was about to anyway.", the doctor responded curtly. Within moments, he could be heard on the other side of the wall, talking to the little boy,: _"How're you doing there, tiger? How's the leg treating you: let's see, try moving it- there's a boy!" _Blecch. Later on, Princess would figure out that he was the boy's grandfather, something else that she'd done without.

No one had peeked into her room for about an hour and a half (that kid's annoying parents peeked into his, though), when Princess decided to call up the nurses. Unfortunately, she was wrong in her predictions: her help had not learned from their experience and her gibes yesterday, was not quicker in coming, was not coming at all, in fact. She jammed the call button over and over and over, but no one showed up. She took the next most logical route after that: she screamed herself hoarse, until her broken rib, which was doing some screaming of its own, shut her up. She tried the button again later that afternoon; she pressed it about 30 times before she got a response.

A nurse showed up in the doorway. "Miss Morbucks, could you stop that? You're keeping the other patients in this wing up."

"Too bad for them.", the redhead sniffed nonchalantly. "Go call my house, see if my father isn't busy anymore."

"Judging by the 20 other times we tried to contact Mr. Morbucks today, you know what the answer is going to be.", the nurse responded, sounded similarly noncommittal in response. "By the way, you have a visitor."

"Let them in.", Princess said, certain it'd be one of the servants. Maybe they'd tell her why her Daddy had been so busy lately.

The nurse nodded obligingly, and stepped out, only to be replaced by none other than Buttercup Utonium. The black haired girl looked like she'd mistaken today for Valentine's judging by the way that she was dressed and groomed (boyish as it was) and had a box of chocolates tucked under one arm.

"You again.", Princess sneered, eyeing the box of chocolates curiously. What brand were they? "I thought you were banned from here."

Buttercup shrugged, making her way towards Princess's bed. "They let me in.", the black haired girl said, sitting down in the chair beside the bed.

The redhead narrowed her eyes, all the while trying to read the label on the chocolates. "They shouldn't have. You can go. The chocolates may stay...if you tell me what kind they are."

"See for yourself.", Buttercup said, passing her the package. "I bought them, I just wasn't sure what to get, outside of 'expensive'."

That was a lie. Buttercup had caught John the Houseboat Boy slipping the still new and unwrapped box of sweets into Bubbles's locker as she headed out into the hallway to grab a drink during fourth period. She managed to bust the locker open and make off with the treats, stuffing them into her own locker. Thankfully, Bubbles was oblivious to the fact, and probably would fuss over John just as much tomorrow, present or none.

Princess smiled, regarding the box. "You outdid yourself here. These are pricey enough I guess, plus I do like creme fill-" Here she stopped, turning a suspicious gaze on Buttercup. "You're trying to bribe me."

Buttercup shook her head. "Wrong on that one, Your Majesty. Guess again."

"I don't have to guess.", Princess responded. "I already told you why. You think I'm so stupid I'm just going to take whatever you throw at me with a smile and forget about what you did! Guess again, Buttercup: it's never going to happen." She smirked, drawing the box of chocolates closer to her.

Buttercup sighed in exasperation. "You can't go a day without putting words in people's mouths, can you?", she asked. Before Princess could open her mouth to answer that rhetorical question, the green eyed girl continued on, her voice climbing in volume: "I came here to say I'm sorry, okay?! I don't expect you to forgive me, and I don't think you're dumb, so stop assuming things!"

Princess was beginning to work on opening the chocolates, using her long, manicured nails to tear open the plastic wrap. She looked up at Buttercup's last few words. "_What_?"

"Sorry. _Sor_-_ry_.", the black haired girl said, as if Princess was a small child. "That _is _a word in your vocabulary, isn't it?"

The redhead looked more confused than irate now. "Why are you apologizing to me now?", she asked. "You never said you were sorry all those other times you three beat me up and threw me in jail? Why now? You have to have a motive."

"You didn't deserve what I did to you, Princess.", Buttercup said, trying to sound sincere, even though she really did want to reach out and slap the rich teenager in the face. "I took my anger out on you for something that wasn't your fault. Are you happy?"

Princess didn't respond for a moment. Instead, she opened the box of chocolates and withdrew a dark, circular one, taking a bite. "Cherry creme, delicious.", she murmured, before turning her attentions back to Buttercup. "So _what _wasn't my fault, anyway, Buttercup?", she inquired, her eyes like two twin sponges that were dying to soak up any sort of gossip.

The black haired girl shook her head. "I don't see why I have to tell you."

"Fine then.", Princess responded. "I won't listen to another thing you have to say then, Buttercup."

"See if I care."

"I can't hear you."

"Obviously, you can. Now look, if that's all you want to do, I'd be better off-"

Princess was staring off into space. "La, la, la, I don't hear a thing.", she sang.

Buttercup was becoming visibly annoyed by now. "Would you stop that, that's obnoxious!", she snapped.

Princess grinned. "Oh, was that the wind?", she said in a mocking, sing-song tone. "Dear me, I can't tell! Maybe I could, if it had anything important to say!"

"How could you know _anything _about it?", Buttercup snarled. "_You've _never been in love."

That was enough. Princess regarded Buttercup curiously, her brown eyes glittering with happiness, knowing she'd made the black haired girl do what exactly what she'd wanted her to do. "Oh, really? So you were heartbroken, huh? Tell me all about it, Buttercup. What was his name?"

"It wasn't a boy.", the green eyed girl responded, realizing too late what she'd just said.

Princess was grinning wolfishly now. "_Oh_? How about that? One of the perfect little Powerpuffs likes the ladies! I can't say I'm surprised, though.", she added, giving Buttercup's full ensemble another once-over with her eyes.

"If all you're going to do is be your old, obnoxious self, I'm leaving.", Buttercup said, getting up in a huff. _Some comfort this turned out to be_, she thought.

"Wait."

The black haired girl wheeled around, turning cynical, green eyes on the redhead lying in the bed. "What?"

"I'm leaving here tomorrow.", Princess said. "Of course, I'll have to have bed rest and plenty of attention, you know how it is."

The tomboy raised an eyebrow. "Your point being...?"

"Well, I want you to come over and stay with me.", the redhead informed her. "It's a Saturday, so you'll be free, I'm sure."

"Why should I?"

Princess laughed, as if this was a very stupid question. "So we can talk, of course! Why else?"

"About my personal life, right?", Buttercup asked. "Not gonna happen."

"Huh, suit yourself then.", Princess sniffed, settling back in her bed. "I thought you'd be flattered by the offer to see my mansion from the inside, ecspecially since I'm trying to be nice. Besides, I'll need more help than usual, see, and Alfred's been pokey lately-"

"I'm not one of your servants.", Buttercup muttered, before stomping off.

"Oh, you'll be back.", Princess muttered in turn.

She would be.


	5. Wondering

Bubbles woke both of the other two up that morning. The blonde girl was chatting amiably on the phone, and not bothering to lower her voice at all as she paced back and forth across the bedroom floor. One would have thought she was talking to her boyfriend, until you heard the gist of the conversation.

"Oh? Really?" she was saying, as both Blossom and Buttercup rose out of bed, rubbing sleep out of their eyes. "Really really? A letter? For you? That's great, Mayor! What'd it say?" She paused, putting her head to one side. "Uh huh...uh huh...oh, wow! Huh?" She giggled. "Well, a lot of people think you're a great leader...well, yeah, I do, really really _really_!...guess she does even more, huh? Ms. Bellum got one from her secret admirer too? What'd he write?"

"Bubbles, why are you bugging the Mayor?" Blossom asked drowsily, getting up out of bed, making her way to her vanity mirror, and proceeding to brush all the tangles out of her hair.

"_He _called _me_!" Bubbles hissed, before returning to her phone conversation. "He wrote her a poem?...Well, I'd probably wind up rhyming 'poem' with 'poem' fourteen times too..." Here, the blonde girl broke into a grin. "Really? Oh, I'm sure she'd love to write you back as well!...No, no, I'm no good at knowing what to put in letters like that...Thanks, but I want- I mean, I'm sure she'd want it to be a surprise. Okay, bye!" She hung up, grinning triumphantly. "Now all I've gotta do is wait until he writes back, and then I'll write him! Oh, the Mayor sounded so happy over the phone!"

"So, Harmony Bunnysworth strikes again." Buttercup stated, getting out of bed herself.

Bubbles's face flushed a little. "Um...right. _That_." She hung up the phone and stared out the bedroom window, whistling a happy tune under her breath. "T.G.I.S." she chirped. "Thank God it's Saturday." She put her head to one side in thought. "I was gonna do something...what was it?"

"You were going to think of things to write, weren't you?" Blossom inquired.

Bubbles shook her head. "No, it was for today...I was gonna..." She looked at her sisters and her blue eyes widened, as if she'd seen something she didn't want to see. "Um, I was gonna go do stuff! That's right, stuff!"

Buttercup gave the blonde, who was rushing to get dressed a quizzical look. "Stuff?"

Bubbles nodded, moments after pulling on a dress. "Uh huh. Stuff. It's a secret, though. Okay? Bye!"

Moments later, Bubbles could be heard gliding down the stairs as quietly as she could. She wanted to surprise her parents and her sisters that morning; plus, it might make everyone stop fighting. She'd seen something she didn't like in Blossom's eyes just a moment ago. Housework took her mind off of it.

Blossom and Buttercup were left all alone in the room now. Both sisters said nothing for a good span of time; they fixed each other with a silent stare, neither shifting an inch. Had one been able to feel tension as a physical presence there, it would have been present in spades.

Finally, Buttercup decided she was going to make the first move. She sighed, sitting down Indian-style on her bed. Somehow, she knew a dressing down by Blossom would have to come, sooner or later. "So, what's eating you?" she asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

"I could ask the same thing." the red haired girl said, focusing all attention on her sister. "You've been spacing off during classes, you won't participate in any of our team maneuvers in battle, you've been oversleeping, you hardly hang out anymore: it's like you've been a completely different person this past few weeks! And now, after what you did to Princess..." She shook her head, her features softening. "Something's wrong, Buttercup. What is it?"

"Wrong?" Buttercup inquired, not letting any emotion creep into her voice. Already, she could feel herself putting the shields up again. "I have not been hurting _that _badly, Blossom. So I didn't do what you told me to when we fought those monsters: we still beat them anyway. And maybe Mitch and I needed a break from each other, have you ever considered that? I don't see what your point is."

Blossom frowned. "This isn't about me, Buttercup. It's about you. I'm not the only one who's noticed either: what about the Professor and Ms. Keane? Don't you think they worry about you? And Bubbles: she kept fretting about the way you were acting this entire time. And, as much as it bothers me to say it, it's about Princess too."

"I've beaten her up before." Buttercup said. Damn it, she already knew what she'd done wrong! She'd already apologized to the brat, she'd already learned in the most painful fashion where Robyn's priorities laid, and in case Blossom cared, she was in the process of trying to get over it! "Heck, remember the first time we had to fight her? _You _were the one who gave her the sucker-punch. Why is she suddenly an issue?"

"You went way too far." Blossom said, her voice rising in volume. Buttercup was a little startled: though Blossom was awfully loud, her older sister sounded more upset and worried than angry. "You didn't stop even when I begged you to stop: you could've killed her!" She sat down on her bed, hands folded. "Buttercup, this isn't like you at all. You're good! You don't go around hurting people for no reason. What changed?"

"It was only one of her ribs." Buttercup said, knowing that she was about to push one of Blossom's buttons. "Big deal, even if I had dropped her, she probably wouldn't have died."

"You shouldn't have even gotten close to dropping her." Blossom said. Her voice was wavering a little now. Was she going to cry? "Our goal has always been to neutralize villains and bring them into custody, not to beat them within an inch of their lives and let ambulances haul them off!"

"Can you go thirty seconds without exaggerating?!" Buttercup shouted, jumping up from the bed. "The way you make it sound, Princess was about to die from internal bleeding or something!"

The red haired girl narrowed her eyes. "Who's to say that wouldn't have happened if Bubbles hadn't made you come to your senses, Buttercup?"

Buttercup snorted. "Well, for your information, Miss Wonderful, it didn't happen, and poor little Princess is getting out of the hospital today as we speak. Besides, you don't have any room to talk. I've seen the way you've gone after bad guys. You almost dislocated Mojo's jaw once!"

"A swollen jaw is not a dislocated one!" Blossom responded, her voice taking on a harsh tone. _Now _she was mad. "If you're going to accuse me of something, at least get your facts straight!"

"Fine." Buttercup said, her voice taking on a sarcastic edge. "And Blossom, while we're on the subject, would you care telling me just where all of those familiar-looking philosophy texts you have are coming from? You haven't been _stealing _from anyone, have you?"

Blossom's cheeks flushed. "I borrowed them from a friend!" she asserted, her voice rising in pitch a little. Instantly, she gathered her composure, setting her face straight again. "Please quit trying to change the subject." she told the black haired girl.

"Why should I? I'd rather grill _you _for a change than stand around beating a dead horse." Buttercup responded, crossing to the closet and selecting an outfit of her own. "I already worked everything else out yesterday, alright? Can we get off of it?"

Blossom went after her: Buttercup could feel her hand on her shoulder. "Buttercup, I'm worried about you. I do have a right to be concerned about my sisters, don't I?

"I guess." Buttercup said, completely nonplussed. "You don't have to be concerned over it, though. I'm done. I'm back to normal. See?" She turned around and flung her hands out for Blossom's inspection, as if the events of the past few weeks had been some sort of skin disease that she'd just been cured of. "Will you drop it already?"

The pink eyed girl shook her head sadly, as she moved to get dressed. "You can be so thick sometimes, Buttercup."

The green eyed girl snickered. "Look who's talking." she said, as she began to dress as well. "You're as thick as your boyfriend!"

"_Who_?"

"As a Brick!" Buttercup said, ducking Blossom's slap just in time.

"You-" Blossom started, narrowing her eyes. "I ought to-"

"Ought to what?" Buttercup inquired, waving her hand in a "bring it" gesture.

Before the two girls could carry on any further, they were interrupted by a high pitched cry and the smell of burning toast wafting up from downstairs. Bubbles had tried fixing breakfast again.

---

"The toast looks good." Sandy Keane remarked, regarding the slightly charred bread. The black haired woman turned her attention to the carbonized black mass sitting in the pan on the stove. "The eggs...well, don't worry, Bubbles, I can fry some more in no time. It's not a big deal."

The blue eyed girl looked crestfallen. "But...I wanted to make breakfast for you guys for once! I don't want you to make it! Then there's no point!" She frowned. "I just wanted you guys to be happy..."

Blossom and Buttercup exchanged glances. Neither of the two wanted to dredge what had happened back up. A spat was a spat was a spat...although it hadn't gone away, it'd just been pushed to the background.

"Bubbles, why would I be upset with you?" Ms. Keane inquired, looking confused. "Did something happen?"

"No, nothing's wrong." Blossom and Buttercup chorused, each casting a glance at the other.

Bubbles raised an eyebrow, but quickly turned her attentions back to the breakfast. "Today was special." she said, shaking her head sadly. "I've always wanted to make breakfast in bed myself, and I ruined it."

Ms. Keane was scraping the burnt egg remnants into the garbage disposal. "You could've just gotten one of your sisters to help you, Bubbles." she said, watching the carbonized eggs vanish down the drain. "I'm sure they wouldn't have minded. Isn't that right, girls?"

"Of course not." Blossom responded. "In fact, if it's all right with you, Buttercup and I can help Bubbles put together an even better breakfast...if that's all right with Bubbles."

The blue eyed girl shrugged. "Um...okay. But you have to let me do most of it. How else am I gonna learn?"

Buttercup was looking around the kitchen, a quizzical look on her face. "Where's the Professor?" she asked.

Ms. Keane giggled and pressed her face to her clasped hands, pantomiming sleep. "He was up all night in the lab." the black haired woman said. "I've never seen anything like it, someone who uses equations as a cure for insomnia...until I met him, anyway." She made her way towards the threshold of the kitchen. "Holler at me if you need anything." she told the Powerpuffs. "I'll be upstairs getting things around: namely your father. It's almost ten o'clock." That said, she made her way out the room and up the stairs, humming something to herself.

"Let's see..." Blossom said, placing her hands on her hips and surveying the kitchen. "What do we have in here that'll make a good breakfast?"

"We could just do eggs and toast again." Buttercup said. The black haired girl was wondering how she could weasel out of this: she wasn't really hungry and honestly, she didn't feel like cooking anything, good at it or not. She'd rather be outside.

"French toast." Bubbles said. "French toast with lots of extra syrup. Let's do that."

Blossom nodded. "Alright, French toast it is!" She moved to grab a skillet. "Alright, Bubbles, bring some eggs! Buttercup, I'll need some bread..."

"Fine." the green eyed girl responded, carrying the loaf over and dropping it in front of Blossom. "Can I go now?"

"Go?" Bubbles, who was setting the bread in the skillet as carefully as she could. "Where do you have to go, Buttercup? I thought you were gonna help us surprise the Professor and Ms. Keane."

"It's not much of a surprise any more." the black haired girl responded, before turning and making her way towards the stairs herself. "I'm gonna go lie down."

Blossom didn't even try to argue with her sister this time. She only shook her head in resignation. "I wonder about her sometimes." she told Bubbles, who shrugged. "She'd be a lot happier if she let somebody in once in a while."

_She'd be happier if someone had let _her _in_, Bubbles thought. Someday, Buttercup would have to say something, sooner or later. She wouldn't rush her, though. She had promised.

"Okay, what do you set the stove to again?" the blonde haired girl asked.

---

Princess stared up at the ceiling, counting stars. Not real stars, of course, just the paintings on the plaster. She wouldn't stand for a plain old ceiling, she recalled, so back when she was seven or so, she'd begged and pleaded and yelled until Daddy had set the servants to work bedecking every last inch of it with small, gold stars. They'd set diamonds in some of them: those were the special stars, she'd decided. Just like she was Daddy's special star.

She certainly didn't feel like _anyone's _special star today. This hadn't really been a change up from the hospital in the least. She was still lying flat on her back as of now, with her left arm in a sling, lest she move it and keep the fracture from healing. Sure, she was out of that ugly old hospital gown and her servants were back to cater to her again, but it wasn't the same, not when she still had to wait to leave the stupid mansion.

If it wasn't for the fact that it still pained her to get up and walk around, she'd be out doing...something besides this. Maybe shopping, or clubbing. She'd been clubbing a few times, little did anyone in Morbucks Manor know. It wasn't anything big, though, not like she thought it'd be. The girls were shallow little idiots who would debase themselves instantly at the drop of a hat, and the boys weren't much better.

Princess wondered if it was unfair to pass judgment on the opposite sex because of those morons there: surely there were boys out there that could be bad and hardcore on their own merits. But no, not those kinds over at the clubs she'd been to. They acted hardcore and tough and badass, but once you stripped those layers away, you were just left with a bunch of immature kids who wanted to play at being fearless adults. Hell, even the Rowdyruffs fit that profile. Deep inside, they were still five year olds. As for any of her cohorts in villainy...no. Either they were jerks, nonhuman jerks more often, or sticks in the mud who didn't want to change or were too dumb to change. Sometimes she felt like the only one of the Townsvillains who'd done anything resembling maturing.

Of course, there were other things to attend to...namely her father. He was going away again on one of his stupid business trips. He promised he'd see her when she came home from the hospital, but that hadn't even come close to happening. He cared more about dealing with some account or something overseas than he did about her.

He had sent Alfred down with a case of money, earlier. Ha, as if he really thought that his daughter would forget what had happened then for a pile of cash. She'd thrown the wads of C-notes back in her butler's face. Money, what was the use? She had all of it she could possibly want here. Not only that, but money didn't ask how you were feeling, money didn't look at you with concern, money didn't talk...then again, what did she expect her Daddy to do when he came to visit her? It wasn't like she ever heard him say any of that schmaltzy crap parents on TV said: just a quick greeting, perhaps, and a wad of dollar bills lest it look like she needed anything. Maybe _this _was why her mother had run away with the chauffeur.

Her thoughts turned to Buttercup. Oh no, she hadn't forgotten about Buttercup, not in the slightest. That girl had some explaining to do, and she was going to remind her of that in any way possible. Well, that and...

_And what, Princess?, _her conscience asked her. _What do you intend to do after you've made her apologize, exactly? And why do you want her anywhere near you, not when she could destroy everything? You know who she is, what she does. Why then?_

To be perfectly honest, she wasn't sure of that herself. Gossip, maybe? She'd never talked to a lesbian before, maybe they weren't as stupid as regular girls. Maybe they were more like boys. It was the poorest possible way to satiate her curiosity about the opposite sex, using a cheap substitute, but what the hell? Besides, she might be able to blackmail Buttercup with the knowledge: that was, unless she'd already gone and told everyone, which she doubted. The press would have a field day, wouldn't they? Oh yes, they certainly would.

Or maybe...no, this was a pretty dumb reason, Princess decided. There'd been something else there, and not just on those times Buttercup had visited her (she was taunting me, the redhead decided), something in her eyes. She'd begun to notice it every time she fought with the Powerpuffs these past few years: the "I want" look, she called it. It was something she almost always wore when she thought about the Powerpuffs. Buttercup had it in her eyes just about every time they fought. It didn't happen when she fought with anyone else, Princess knew that just by experience: she still liked to hang around and watch the Powerpuffs fight monsters through a pair of binoculars, on the days when she didn't feel like committing crimes.

"So what _do _you want, Buttercup?" Princess asked the gold stars, a knowing grin forming on her face. She began to laugh quietly. "What do I have that you don't have? Why are you jealous of _me_, of all people?"

She would have to come, Princess knew that for a fact. Buttercup was a raging bull at heart: you just had to wave the cloth in front of her face a certain number of times. She'd pissed the green Puff off pretty badly yesterday, and when Buttercup was mad, Buttercup charged.

"Straight to my front door." Princess said, giggling. "Well, Buttercup, what are you waiting for? Come get me."

---

Buttercup had left the house. She felt like it, that was all the black haired girl needed to know. She needed some fresh air today, so she'd flown out the window, easy as that. It was something she'd done quite a few times before anyway.

Lately, the house had begun to seem more and more like a prison to her. Today just sealed the deal. Her sisters and parents went on with their own lives, with nary a care in the world, while she sat here and went without. At the very least, she knew Bubbles cared about her, knew what she was feeling. But Blossom? Anyone else? She had still resolved not to let them in at all. She still had thoughts, feelings inside of her that needed to be addressed...but by who?

She sighed, stopping to hover over Townsville Hall. She knew it'd been a futile quest all along, winning Robyn's heart. She knew, had always known deep inside that her love for the brown haired girl was meant to be a secret one, for her own enjoyment purposes. So why did it hurt so badly to think of Robyn, to think of the things she said, to wonder what had possessed the brunette to go on with a life without her? Was this how Bubbles felt after every "true love" of hers decided to break it off? Maybe Buttercup wasn't equipped to deal with love then.

_Where are you, Robyn?_, she thought darkly, as she surveyed Townsville, letting gentle drafts of cool air ruffle her black hair. _Drooling over Butch? Getting ready to tart yourself up so he'll like you more? Are you already in his arms right now? Don't expect it to last then. You'll see, he's an immature kid in a teenager's body. Unless you can blow up repeatedly or something, he won't want you. Just watch._

She didn't care how vindictive that sounded. Robyn may as well have ripped out her heart and skipped rope with it that day, so why should she justify her actions for her? She'd led her on, Buttercup decided, she'd led her on when she could have just said she wasn't interested. Now she was gone forever.

She made her way along an air current, letting it carry her, and turned her attentions downward to the volcano top observatory in the middle of Townsville Park. What was the matter, didn't Mojo want to come out and play? He hadn't been out trying to take over Townsville for a week, which was odd by his standards. Fine time for Townsville's number one menace to take a vacation, Buttercup thought, not when she needed to work something, anything over with her fists. Hell, she'd settle for a bunch of run-of-the-mill bank robbers.

Of course, as fate would have it, no banks were being robbed today, nor were any of the regular rouges gallery out and about. It would seem that this Saturday, everyone wanted to take a break, even the villains.

What did she plan to do anyway? Fly around looking for trouble? Perhaps...

She could see Morbucks Manor in the distance as she flew past the park. The building was bathed in sunlight, giving it an oddly tantalizing glow. Princess was in there, her dear friend Princess, waiting patiently for her prey to come stumbling blindly into her claws

Buttercup shook her head. It wasn't going to happen: that was what that brat _wanted _her to do. Then again, the fact that she was inviting a Powerpuff, any of the Powerpuffs to her mansion was patently bizarre by her standards. It'd be like Blossom inviting Mojo Jojo to come over for tea and cookies.

Maybe Princess had some sort of trap set there. Buttercup would just have to step so close to Princess's bed, and BOOM!: She'd be hit with a bomb, lasers, acid or something. Of course, that was where numerous villains, Princess included, failed: she and her sisters were just about indestructible. Come to think of it however, watching the look on the brat's face when her salvo of bullets or something bounced harmlessly off of Buttercup would be fun; sort of a half-assed fight. Alright, so she'd be in violation of a code of conduct if she was to hit Princess back. Buttercup would take care of that angle when it came.

_Besides_, she thought, _maybe she's expecting you _not _to come. Maybe she thinks you're too cowardly to face a girl who really can't do much more than yell at you at the present moment. Well, you'll show her, won't you?_

Buttercup grinned deviously. That was all she needed. If it was a confrontation Princess wanted, it was a confrontation she'd get.

She began to fly towards the mansion.

---

Princess drummed her long nails on the lid of the box of chocolates she held. It was only a matter of time before Buttercup came, she told herself, only a matter of time. Unless, of course, she was scared or something. Maybe she thought that this was another one of those traps the redhead adored springing on the Powerpuffs. She wished it could've been, but between yelling at Alfred, a few maids, and her Daddy, worrying about how long it'd take before she'd be out of this dumb sling and out of this room, and watching television, she just hadn't had the time to think of a way to destroy any of the Powerpuffs.

The intercom beside Princess's bed buzzed, making the rich teenager jump a little. She reached over, clicking the button.

"Yes, what is it?" she inquired between bites of a caramel filled chocolate.

"Miss Morbucks, one of the Powerpuffs is outside the gate. Shall I activate the laser defense system for you?"

"No, that won't be necessary." the redhead responded. Damn it, and she'd so wanted to try out that laser defense system, she'd just made Daddy install it. "Let her in."

Silence from the intercom. Then: "Miss Morbucks, are you certain? If you recall-"

"Are you forgetting who you're talking to here?" Princess snapped. "I said let her in, and let her in now, or you are fired, do you understand?"

A pause. "Um...y-yes, Miss Morbucks." she heard the guard stammer. Then more silence: Buttercup was in.

Princess propped herself up on the pillows, holding another chocolate between her fingers. That was one of the things she planned to ask: where did Buttercup get these at? They were good...well, for anything available locally, anyway. The girl had something resembling good taste. That definitely surprised Princess: she always thought that Buttercup had a head full of muscles, with no room for a functional brain.

She could hear the buzzing of the elevator in the distance now, as Buttercup rode up to where she waited. She wondered how the green Puff liked the place so far. Surely it was better than that dinky little excuse for a house that she lived in. That was a point that had always confused Princess to no end: those three were the biggest celebrities in Townsville, and still they insisted on living like normal little girls. If she had been a Powerpuff, that wouldn't have happened, not at all. She'd be demanding payments from the citizens in return for her good deeds! What did those three get off of? Praise? Love? She frowned. Yes, she assumed that was better than money, to a point. She wondered what it felt like.

_Princess, the best loved Powerpuff of them all, I called myself when I first started out_, she thought, taking a small bite out of the chocolate. _Am I lousy at predictions or what?_

Princess watched the two doors at the front of the room began to swing open all of a sudden. She sat up in bed, ignoring the small bolts of pain in her anticipation to begin her investigations. There stood Buttercup, looking around her bedroom with wide eyes. Let her take it all in, the redhead thought. She loved the looks she received when she stepped out in her limousine, the sort of stares she received whenever she brought out her money. This house, this room, why they were just a manifestation of all that, another testament of what money could buy. Take that, Buttercup.

She watched the black haired girl make her way around her vast bedchamber, mouth agape, her wide eyes taking in her aquariums, her paintings, her curtains, her television, her clothes closet. Oh yes, there was that "I want" look, if not nearly as noticeable.

_Is _that _what you want, Buttercup? Money?, _she thought. _Wow, in that case, you're easier to figure out than I thought you'd be. Kudos to me, then._

It wasn't until a few moments had passed that Princess realized that Buttercup hadn't looked over in her direction at all. The Puff was too busy staring at all the things Princess had to notice Princess herself. This wouldn't do.

"Oh, Buttercup." she called sweetly. "I'm over here, in case you haven't noticed."

The black haired girl looked up. "Yeah, I see you." she responded. "I'm not falling for it either."

"Falling for what?" Princess inquired. Suddenly, her brown eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh, you mean the booby traps. There's none of them today, Buttercup. If you must know, I just haven't had the time to set them." She sighed dramatically, laughing inwardly at the look of surprise and confusion on the black haired girl's face. "It's not easy being rich, your schedule is so very full of other matters. Besides, setting traps when I gave you fair warning would just be a shot to my own foot, wouldn't it?"

Buttercup raised an eyebrow, even as she began to inch a little closer to Princess's corner of the room. "Um, I guess so." she responded, wondering why the redhead seemed so interested in her eyes. She resumed her usually surly tone: "Besides, what could _you _have to do that'd be so damn important?"

Princess smiled. "Oh, this and that." the rich teenager responded. "None of your concern, anyway."

The redhead was noticing something very odd in Buttercup's eyes. Of course, that was it! There was the "I want" look, but now that the green Puff was looking at her, it was stronger than ever. Before thinking about it, she had let the words slip out:

"So, what do you want so badly, Buttercup?" she asked, leaning forwards and regarding the very confused-looking girl. "Is it my money? Is it my house? Or is it me?"

Buttercup tried to respond, but the words had died in her throat. The black haired girl was only able to make her jaw work mutely for a few moments, before she finally summoned the word she needed.

"What?"

Princess began to laugh. Yes, that was it, little Buttercup wanted her, or at least something associated with her, she must! Oh, this was going to be so much fun, now that she knew how to drive one of her worst enemies nuts.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" she asked her guest. "Sit down if you want, we have a lot to talk about."

Buttercup hesitated, before finally taking a seat. Princess had a hungry look in her eyes that was more than a little off-putting. It'd seem that the redhead wanted something besides a mere chat with her after all.


	6. Clashing

Buttercup drew in a breath, looking at the redhead reclining in the huge four-poster bed next to her in utter confusion. Her mouth was dry, her heart was giving strange little sideways leaps, her eyes were blinking rapidly. She felt like the very incarnation of dumb bewilderment.

"_So, what do you want so badly, Buttercup? Is it my money? Is it my house? Or is it me?"_

What the hell was she talking about? Princess and Buttercup never spoke to each other in anything resembling a civilized tone, had never interacted outside of their fights. Where was she getting this idiotic concept from?

"I'll wait. After all, we have all day, don't we?", Princess asked, selecting another chocolate. She raised it to her lips and hesitated, looking quizzically at Buttercup. "Tell me: am I getting fat off of these?"

Buttercup shrugged. "I dunno, why's it matter?" From her own observations, she could tell that Princess was only plump in the places a girl was supposed to be plump, but she didn't want to get into that.

Princess took a bite out of the chocolate. "Hmm, guess it doesn't matter anyway. I can always burn some of it off with my trainer: I have a trainer, do you know that? How do you think I learned to fight like this?"

God, what was with this girl? One day she was snapping at you and getting ready to bite your head off, next she was acting as friendly as can be and attempting to make small talk! She was definitely up to something.

"That's nice.", Buttercup said. She wasn't impressed, really, all of her moves were self-taught after all. "You still haven't told me why you invited me over."

Princess finished the chocolate she'd been working on and sat the box on the nightstand. She giggled softly. "I'm curious", she said. "That should be enough. I'm bored, and you're a better diversion than any of the boring pieces of junk I have here."

"Oh, so now I'm a toy?", Buttercup asked, narrowing her eyes. Princess was laughing now. The black haired girl shook her head. "I don't know why I'm even bothering with you.", she muttered.

"Think of it as a favor then.", Princess responded. She indicated towards her ribcage. "Even after that mends, I'm going to go around with huge bruises around there for weeks. I won't be able to wear a bikini or anything, for weeks! I'll be sore all the time too."

"Poor baby.", Buttercup muttered, although not loud enough to where Princess could hear her. Out loud, she said: "I'm not doing this because you told me to, if that's what you think. You'll heal, just watch. There's no point in me fussing over you or apologizing again. One's enough."

Princess tossed in a cynical head shake of her own. "You're ridiculous. I didn't force you to come over here at all, the least you could do is stop being so darn touchy."

"Oh gee, maybe you shouldn't have invited me, my Liege.", Buttercup sneered sarcastically, fixing Princess with the coldest gaze she could muster. "You know I'm bad news."

Princess didn't respond to this comment. Instead she hummed thoughtfully, looking into Buttercup's eyes. The girl still couldn't stop staring at her, she noticed. Just as she suspecting. "Why do you keep gawking?" she asked, smirking and fluttering her eyelids mock-playfully. "Does my reclining like this turn you on?"

Buttercup rose from the chair. "That's a stupid question.", she snapped. "I'm not a pervert."

"It's a yes or no question, Buttercup.", Princess said. She paused, noticing that the black haired girl was still idling beside her bed. "Alright then, answer another one: when did you find out that you were...you know. Gay. When?"

Buttercup turned her back. "That's none of your business."

"Do you think I'm going to laugh at you?", the redhead asked. "Hell, Femme Fatale, that lady bank-robber, we're sort-of acquaintances... in crime, anyway: I'm pretty sure _she's _a lesbian. Hot for Sedusa, if you ask me. I mean, if you ever bothered coming to one of our union meetings...", she laughed, "you wouldn't be out of place at all."

The green Puff hadn't turned around, but Princess could tell she was interested. "What do you mean 'if I was to come to one of your union meetings'? I'm a Powerpuff, not some whiny little brat who flies around robbing banks because she couldn't be one."

Buttercup smiled as she heard the redhead draw in a exasperated breath behind her. There was the Princess she knew and loved!

"I'm a villain because I _want _to be!", Princess snapped, "I don't care about joining your stupid, snotty, stuck-up Powerpuffs anyway! I'm evil, and I'll always be evil!" Her voice calmed down a little. "I wonder why _you _haven't left. If you were smart, you'd quit right away."

Buttercup turned, a look of puzzlement on her face. Little did Princess know, she'd thought about this prospect before. "Leave the Powerpuffs? Sheesh, why? I can't run out on my sisters, they need me."

"To do what?", Princess inquired, smiling knowingly. "They don't _really _need you; surely they can fight by themselves by now! Besides, I've seen how they act: so girly, so pure, so perfect. You're nothing like them." She winked at Buttercup. "You're hardcore, you're tough. You do what you want." The redhead blushed a little. "If you were a boy, I'd date you in an instant."

Buttercup did a little blushing of her own. Okay, so Princess was a little attractive and knew how to flatter her, it still didn't change the fact that she was a spoiled, self-centered snob who expected people to ask "how high?" when she said "jump". The black haired girl banished the heat from her cheeks immediately. "I'm not joining the Townsvillains with you, if that's what you mean."

Princess shook her head. "We're both too good for the Townsvillains, Buttercup. Besides, they don't have enough respect for me anyway: they all listen to that stupid monkey or that gay devil fellow...Him or whatever. We should start our own team and fight crime: our way. None of this stupid 'love and justice' stuff."

"Gee, Princess, I thought I was horrible person who broke your rib.", Buttercup responded sarcastically. "So suddenly I'm your best buddy?"

"You should be flattered that I'm still extending the offer to you.", the rich teenager sniffed. "Any other self-respecting girl would never extend the privilege after what you did. _I _can be forgiving, see?"

"Uh huh.", Buttercup responded. "Get over it: I wouldn't leave the Powerpuff Girls for anything."

"I can make you change your mind.", Princess informed her. "Come on, Buttercup, you know you want to."

"No."

"I _command _you to."

"Oh really?"

"If you don't do what I say right now, I'm gonna call my father, and he'll deal with you personally!"

Buttercup laughed. "No dice, your Majesty. He was leaving as I came here."

Princess blanched. "Oh! I- he- I didn't make him tell me goodbye!" She began to pout, and grumble, speaking more to herself than to Buttercup. "He was supposed to tell me goodbye, he was supposed to see me while I'm sick. I'll make him sorry when he comes back: he's _never _supposed to forget me, never!"

"That's what you do when your father doesn't do what you want?", the black haired girl asked. "You yell at him?"

"Well, of course.", Princess responded as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. "You do it to your father when he won't let you do what you want, don't you?"

"When the Professor doesn't do or say something I like, I'm not allowed to yell at him.", the black haired girl said. "I don't want to anyway: I don't see what it'd accomplish."

Princess looked confused. "But obviously he never gives you money or anything when you're sad. And yet he tells you what you can and can't do? He never builds you a skyscraper when you had a bad day or gives you your own float in the Townsville Day parade when you're mad at him? What kind of a father is that?"

"We have allowances for chores and stuff", Buttercup said, "and money for our birthdays. Other than that...sheesh, it's not like the Professor can just plunk down a case of money when we want one anyway! And don't get me started on buildings or floats."

"He must not love you then.", the redhead said morosely. "Poor Buttercup."

Buttercup narrowed her eyes. "Hey, just because my dad doesn't shower gifts on me every time I stub my toe doesn't mean he doesn't care, _Princess_."

The rich teenager looked very quizzical now. "Then how can you tell if he loves you or not, Buttercup? If _I_ were a Powerpuff Girl-"

"But you're not!", Buttercup snapped. "Let me ask you something, Princess: where was your wonderful father when you were scared or hurt? Where was he when felt lonely and you just wanted a hug to cheer you up? Where was he when you just wanted to spend father-daughter time with him or go on vacations and stuff? Oh yeah, that's right: he's too busy sitting in an armchair counting his money!"

"Don't talk about Daddy that way!", Princess screamed, her free hand flying to her side. She had to remember to stop yelling like that for the next few days.

Buttercup smirked. "Truth's a bitch, isn't it?"

Princess sneered. "My father is a very, very busy man, _Buttercup_. He doesn't have time to do stupid little things like that." She sniffed disdainfully. "Besides, I grew up just fine without him hovering over my shoulder. I was practically an adult by the time I was eight."

"Is that so?", Buttercup asked. "Prove it, then."

"I don't need to prove anything to you.", Princess informed her. "Besides, you never answered my question, Buttercup. What do you want?"

"That again? I'm not into you, if that's what you mean."

"Okay, then what is it?", the redhead inquired. Deep inside she was disappointed that she herself wasn't Buttercup's special desire...best not let that show, she reminded herself. "You gawk at me every time we fight. What are you thinking?"

Buttercup shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? I didn't even know I was doing it in the first place."

"Well you are.", Princess said. "Tell me what it is. I can wait."

The green Puff sighed. It wasn't like she had anything better to do today, but why would psychoanalyzing herself for Princess accomplish anything at all? Still, if it'd shut her up...no. Blossom was into that Freudian stuff, not her, she...

Yes, that was it.

Blossom.

Bubbles.

Who was she always sandwiched between? Who was she always compared to? Her sisters, that was who. They were so sweet, so perfect, so clean, she was the one who was sour, boyish, unnatural. The Professor and Ms. Keane, they never really showed that bias (they did seem to favor Blossom, though), but that didn't stop the press from doing it. It was her sisters who received most of the fan mail, more of the gifts, more of the praise for the reporters who'd come to them. Don't bother with Buttercup, she's so moody and nasty, not like sweet, perfect Bubbles or smart, sensible Blossom. That was never spoken, but Buttercup understood it well. She...

"You don't have any sisters.", she told Princess, the words flowing from her mouth before she had a chance to stop them. "No one ever compares you to anyone and no one tells you that you're somehow a freak for being honest, not like the two girls you're stuck between. Nobody _expects _anything out of you, for crying out loud!"

Princess shifted a little and leaned forwards. "Wait: 'honest'? You mean 'bitchy', don't you?"

Buttercup shook her head. "No, I mean 'honest'. You're spoiled and stuck up and sour, but at least you put what you are on the table. You're lucky: Whenever I do that, people get pissed off."

The redhead began to giggle. "Wow, this is so weird, I feel so weird hearing this. One of the perfect little Powerpuffs is jealous of the same person she mistreats on a daily business. I'm going to wake up soon, I know it. This is just way too out of it for you, Buttercup."

"It's true.", the black haired girl said. "I'm jealous. I'd love to be an only child sometimes. You are. I'm jealous of you. What else do you want me to tell you?" She snorted. "And please, 'mistreat'? We never did anything to you that you didn't deserve. When someone commits a crime, they're punished. End of story."

"I never did anything that _you _didn't deserve either.", Princess interjected. "You made me this way in the first place, you and your sisters. I asked to be a Powerpuff and you guys said no, I came along anyway and you turned around and humiliated me! I tried everything in the book, and it still wasn't good enough for you! Why should I even bother being nice to you now, when all you're going to do is throw it back in my face?"

Buttercup raised an eyebrow. "Nice? Try 'manipulative'. You're just using me as a means to an end so I'll beg my sisters to let you into the Powerpuffs. It's not gonna happen, and it never will."

"See, that's what I mean!", Princess exclaimed, her voice taking on a wavering tone. "You hate me, you think I'm a monster! That's why you beat me that day at the bank like that, I just know it!"

"That had nothing to do with you!", Buttercup shouted. "Really, I should be calling myself a monster! I beat you up because...because..."

"Girlfriend trouble?", Princess inquired, recovering instantly.

"She didn't love me.", Buttercup said. What was the point of holding it back: this girl already knew about it. She crossed to one of the vast, curtained windows in Princess's bedroom, pushed the curtain aside and stared out of it, regarding the scenery. "I took it out on you because she wasn't there...and I could never..."

"Oh, because I'm just someone to beat up on.", the redhead stated. "I'm not a gentle lady like...who was she, anyway?"

Buttercup felt a lump rising in her throat.. The hurt, the rejection, the longing she'd felt all that time came flooding back in an instant. Maybe getting it off of her chest would help...but then again...

"Robyn Snyder.", she heard herself saying.

Princess giggled. "Wow, the same Robyn you guys and I fought over once? My ex-friend Robyn? That weak-willed twit? _She's _the one you were going berserk over? Wow, Buttercup, for a perfect supergirl, your tastes in dates suck!"

"She's not a twit.", Buttercup said, clenching one of her fists. "Besides, you were never her friend, you just used her to make us jealous."

"Your point being?", Princess asked. "Besides, when was that? Eleven years ago?" She paused. "So what, she just wasn't into girls, right? Or did she have her eyes on one of your wonderful sisters instead?"

The green eyed girl shook her head. "Robyn was straight. She's Bubbles's friend, but not her _special _friend, if that's what you mean. No, she..." Here she shuddered, as the image of Robyn's crush floated into her mind. Oh, how she'd love to rip that girl's "special dream boyfriend" a new one! "She had her eye set on someone else, one of the Rowdyruff Boys. Butch."

Now Princess was laughing out loud. "Oh wow, tough luck! You got ditched for a clone of yourself!" She stopped laughing, her voice taking on a seemingly sincere tone. "Well, Buttercup, look on the bright side: if Robyn chases after blockheads like that, she's obviously not very bright. You didn't need her."

Buttercup turned and threw a confused look at Princess. "Okay, genius, who do I need? If you're going to turn this into another offer to join forces with you-"

The rich teenager shook her head. "No, I'm just saying that someone like you shouldn't be chasing after a wet noodle like that. Strong people don't need weak people at all." She frowned. "Mom was weak, that's what I think. That's why she ran away with one of our servants, of all people when I was three. I don't care. Daddy and I didn't need her anyway."

"Wow, tough luck.", Buttercup muttered. "So what do you mean by 'strong people', Princess?"

"Oh, you know, people like you and me.", the redhead responded. "People who say what they mean and stop at nothing to get what they want. Do you know how hard it is for me to find boys like that?"

"Please, I'm dying to know.", the green Puff said flatly.

Princess didn't detect the sarcasm, that or she didn't care. "It's near impossible. Every time I think I've found a guy who can give me a challenge, he turns out to be a simpering little pansy with cream puffs for brains. 'Oh Princess, you're so pretty', 'Oh Princess, you have so much money, what do you do with all of it?', 'Oh Princess, why do you wanna rob a bank now? Let's cuddle, baby.' Sickening. Well, that or he gets intimidated and runs out on me. Either way, they're not worth it at all."

"Funny, all of Bubbles's boyfriends sound that way.", Buttercup said. "Except for the robbing a bank thing, that is. She just _loves _it when they fuss over her."

"Do I look like Bubbles?", Princess sneered. "I think not: besides, she's still as weak-willed as ever, isn't she?"

Bubbles? Weak-willed? Not really. She was soft-spoken as ever, but when she was mad, even Buttercup was a little scared of her. Hardcore Bubbles was not something you'd want to deal with on any given day.

"Actually...", Buttercup began, then trailed off. Best not to drag her younger sister into this. "No, you're not like Bubbles. You're...um, bolder"

"Exactly.", Princess said, happy that someone, even if it was one of those stupid Powerpuffs, agreed with her for once. "I can't stand being made over and dominated by a shallow ape like some china doll. In fact, I fucking _hate _it."

Buttercup grinned. "Oh, look at that: the richest, most cultured girl in Townsville has a potty mouth."

Princess narrowed her eyes. "Don't talk down to me in my own house, Buttercup. Just because I can't come after you-"

"I was just pointing something out.", the black haired girl retorted. "It had nothing to do with your condition, your Highness. It's just when I think 'rich', I think polite, reserved, not a foul-mouthed hellcat."

"You know, for someone who belongs to a group of boring do-gooders, you sure are venal.", Princess remarked.

"Speak for yourself.", Buttercup murmured, not loud enough for Princess to hear her.

"I mean, if I ran the Powerpuff Girls, we wouldn't go on and on about justice like, what's her name: Blossom. I'd make Townsville sit up holidays for us, though. Yes, they'd give us gifts too, it's the least they could do for-"

"Oh, shut up!", Buttercup barked, making her way to Princess's bedside. "I come over here, hoping to add some spice to my day, and instead I have to listen to you monologue about how wonderful you are, in between a bunch of little snide comments about my personal life!" Now the black haired was at the rich teenager's bedside, her face hovering a few inches from hers. "Princess: do you really want to know why no one likes you? It's because you are an amoral, self-pitying, cloying little _bitch_."

Buttercup winced at the sudden, sharp pain that had cut across her cheek. Princess had reached up and slapped her.

"Don't talk to me that way, Buttercup.", the redhead snarled, her eyes full of anger. "Not after the things you've said to me, not after the things you did. You're right: you should be the one who everyone sees as a monster: because you are." She shuddered. "You're just like your stupid sisters: you don't care about people like me at all!"

The black haired girl began to laugh. "I don't care? If that was true, I would have just abandoned you, Princess. I didn't though, did I? I held your hand when you were knocked unconcious at the bank, I sat by your side until you woke up, I came over here because-"

"You had nothing better to do.", Princess finished. "Yes, I know. We already established that."

"And I wanted to get away.", Buttercup said. "From my parents, from my sisters, from everyone. How could you ever understand? You're an only child." Before Princess, who was opening her mouth to toss in a snide comment could say anything, Buttercup continued. "I never did get why you wanted in the Powerpuff Girls anyway. It's not a piece of cake being a superhero: people expect you to be perfect, clean, pure. _You _got to choose your own destiny. I was born into it: and yeah, sometimes I wish that I hadn't been."

Princess frowned. "You're not making any sense at all. First you say I'm not a bitch, then you say I'm a bitch; you say you hate me, and then you tell me that I'm somehow luckier than you are? Are you crazy as well as kinky, Buttercup?"

The green eyed girl sighed heavily. "You didn't listen to a word I said, did you?"

"I did", the brown eyed girl responded, "it just made no sense. You're messed up, and there's no way I can help you there."

Buttercup laughed out loud. "I don't need help, Princess. I just tell it like it is: I don't think you're bitchy, but you act like a bitch most of the time. I can't stand the way you act, but I do care about you. Any questions?"

"Yes, one.", Princess responded. "When are you going to get out of here?"

Buttercup shrugged, pulling away from Princess's bedside. "Whenever you want me to leave, I guess."

The rich teenager nodded. "Then go. I've had enough." She exhaled slowly, praying inwardly to let the pain in her side cease. "Frankly, I don't care if you come back here or not, if you have to know."

"But I can come back, right?", Buttercup inquired.

Princess rolled her eyes. "Please, Buttercup, why would you want to? I'm a heartless bitch, remember?"

The black haired girl nodded. "And I'm a monster who goes out of her way to hurt people. Yes, I know. But I can come back?"

Princess didn't respond. The redhead simply resumed her reclining pose on her bed and went back to staring at the ceiling, counting stars.

Buttercup cast one last glance at the richest girl in Townsville before she made her way to one of the bedroom windows and began to slide it open. She'd tried, and she'd blown it sky high. Big deal: what were a few words between a hero and a villain?

"Don't you dare fly out the window.", Princess hissed. "If you're going to leave, do it like a normal person."

It wasn't until a few seconds later that she realized her demands had fallen on deaf ears: Buttercup was gone.

---

Neither girl was there to hear the other, but as Buttercup exited Princess's bedroom window, she began to chuckle to herself. So did Princess, moments after Buttercup's exit.

It was ironic, both mused to themselves: they had found the one person who could really understand them, who was just like them, and they happened to be someone they couldn't stand. Life was a bitch, both decided as they went on with their lives the rest of the day. Life was a bitch.


	7. Connecting

The first rays of the rising sun were casting their soft red glow over the streets of Townsville. The blonde girl carrying the envelope smiled as she watched the warm colors spread over the streets, turning the formerly dark surroundings into something ethereal, if only for a while.

Bubbles smiled as she glided over the streets and down to the front of the post office, watching the streets began to come alive, if slowly. One of the locals, an overweight, gray haired woman was jogging down the sidewalk, beads of sweat popping out on her forehead. A young man, a hard partier by the look of it, was stumbling clumsily back to his apartment, obviously in the thrall of a hangover. Talking Dog, who had managed to stick around for the past eleven years for reasons unknown to everyone except Talking Dog, was nosing around in the garbage.

Just thinking about the reply the Mayor had sent her brought a smile to Bubbles's face. She could still recall her trip to the post office on Sunday, how she'd fed the clerk at the front desk a very clumsy, probably unnecessary story about how she was a go-between, how she'd sped back to the house , and ripped the envelope open with trembling hands.

It'd been written in Ms. Bellum's elegant cursive (she transcribed all his letters, she remembered), but the words had belonged completely to the Mayor.

She was ashamed to have such thoughts, but Bubbles had to admit it to herself: the letter was much more affectionate and heartfelt than any of the messages her boyfriends sent her. Nothing special: just rambling on about how it felt to be the most important man in Townsville, questions about her personal life of the most innocuous nature (mainly about how much of a pickle connoisseur she was), things like that.

_Good old Mayor!, _Bubbles thought. _I always could count on him to cheer me up when things went bad. Of course, he probably doesn't know who was writing him...yet. I wonder when I should tell him?_

He'd probably laugh it off when she did have to reveal it, the blonde mused as she floated down to the front of the post office. For some reason it saddened her to think of the truth: the Mayor would always see her as one of the cute little Powerpuffs, nothing more. Why did that bother her? Bubbles didn't know, to be honest.

She gazed at the letter she held in her hand now. She'd poured out her feelings in this one; kept vague of course. Troubles, stress, worries. She told him about her pick-me-up when she was sad: she'd hum to herself or sing songs under her breath. She answered his questions, thankful that none of them were personal (yes, she did like pickles.) As she deposited the letter in the mailbox and flew off, she smiled, happier than she'd been in a while, because-

She had no idea, to be honest. _It 's probably just a friendly thing, _she told herself. _I'm doing it to be nice, that's all._

Bubbles flew the rest of the way to school. She ended up being a half-hour early: she didn't care a bit. Better early than late, besides, standing out in front by the flagpole watching the school come to life was just as fun as watching Townsville itself wake up. She planned on surprising her sisters and ambushing them when they came off the bus, moreover, she wanted to outdo Buttercup. The tomboy had surprised everyone out of their minds by how _stable _she'd been on Sunday. It was like nothing had ever went wrong.

Maybe she had a new crush to make things better, the blue Puff thought. Maybe this one would work out and Buttercup would be happy. It was only a matter of time, wasn't it? Then Buttercup could tell everyone, she'd realize how okay with it they'd be, and everything would be solved!

If only she knew how complicated it really was.

---

She ran as slowly as she could, letting the bespectacled boy keep pace with her. It was a first: usually she just took off ahead all of the other runners, Elmer or no Elmer. She felt generous today though, and kept her activity on the track this morning down to a slow jog.

"Did you see Robyn?" Elmer asked her. He was panting a little: it was difficult for him to keep up any sort of physical exercise for too long. "What's been going on with her?"

Buttercup shrugged. Robyn had come to school tarted up in a miniskirt, fishnet hose, a green top that didn't leave much to the imagination, and heavy makeup. Guess she really was going all out to impress Butch.

"Who knows?" the black haired girl said. "New boyfriend, probably."

"Then he's a delinquent." her friend asserted. "He has to be, with the way she's dressing up for him. I bet it's Mitch. He seems like that type."

The green eyed girl frowned deeply. Sheesh, there he goes again. Only Elmer Sglue could hold a grudge for seven years or so towards a guy who hadn't laid a finger on him since he was about five or so.

"It's not Mitch, Elmer." she stated. "He's not that bad of a seed, trust me."

"So you say." Elmer said darkly. He looked at Buttercup in puzzlement. "Wait, how do you know it it's not Mitch? He could be, I mean just because a guy looks or acts a certain way..."

Buttercup looked away and began to increase her running speed a little bit. Elmer was blushing again, and she didn't want this to turn into another awkward situation. Besides, she already had someone.

_Wait a second!, _her conscience admonished her. _You do not! You and Robyn are over, in fact, you never started. Who else did you have in mind, Buttercup?_

Who indeed. She honestly had no idea, seeing as the only girl outside her family that she'd interacted with before the depression went away was Princess Morbucks, and she'd sooner be eaten alive with spoons than date _that _whining little brat. Unless this was another stupid crush of hers, and it was on Princess...alright, they'd had some stuff in common and the redhead was kind of cute when she wasn't opening her mouth to whine. That was it. Other than that, Buttercup hated her. Villains were villains, there was always something about them to dislike.

_So why am I so damn happy all of a sudden, and why do I keep making plans about what I'm going to say to Princess the next time I visit?, _she wondered There probably would never be a next time, and the green Puff wasn't _supposed _to want one either...

"Buttercup, if it's not Mitch, who do you propose it is?" Elmer was asking her. The bespectacled boy was panting hard as he tried to catch up. "How many delinquents do you know, anyway? Is it one of those villains you fight?" He laughed hoarsely, between gasps for breath. "That'd be a hoot, seeing Robyn try to romance one of those guys. It'd never work, someone good like her and a villain, right?"

But Buttercup had sped off down the track, leaving Elmer to stare forlornly after her.

---

"What's eating you, Bloss?"

Blossom had to resist flinching at the sound of her nickname. She couldn't stand it, to be honest, and she'd asked Katie repeatedly, in the nicest way possible, to just call her by her full name. It didn't work, and the nickname persisted. What was the big deal anyway? Just a nickname, that was a small priority here. The leader of the Powerpuff Girls had bigger things on her plate anyway.

The red haired girl turned to face her friend. Both girls were heading to the locker room after their game of volleyball, and then to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. Volleyball was definitely Blossom's game, though she made a point of never using her powers when playing. She enjoyed a level playing field, otherwise the whole point of PE seemed wasted.

"Don't worry about me." she told Katie, trying to put her best smile on. "I'm just concerned about that grade I got on my Biology exam, that's all."

"You got a 95." Katie said, her tone puzzled.

Blossom giggled weakly. "Um, well I could've gotten even higher if I'd studied more. You know me, Katie, always reaching for the stars. If it was possible to get anything above a 100..."

"Oh, I know _you_, Bloss." her friend agreed, as they both entered the locker room. "You'd try to get straight 200's if it was possible." She put her head to one side thoughtfully, as the two made their way to their lockers. "I've got great news, by the way."

"What is it?" the pink Puff inquired. Anything to take her mind away from..._that_.

Katie broke out into a grin. "I've got a boyfriend! You know that one guy who keeps beating me at trig during those Academic team meetings, Bud Farley? He asked me to go out with him!"

Immediately, Blossom felt as if someone had forced her demented train of thought back onto the tracks . She hoped the colors hadn't visibly drained from her face, even as the thoughts started back up. Such filthy, unheroic things to think! Why was it her who was having them? Why?

Her friend hadn't noticed, that or she was just too excited about her good news. "Blossom, this is amazing! I mean, I've never had a real boyfriend before, and I never dreamed it would be him. You know what the other people on the team were saying."

She'd been eyeing Bud for weeks, Blossom knew that, but everyone was sure that guy was more into numbers than girls. Guess he'd just proved them wrong.

"That's great news." the pink eyed girl said, trying to disguise the tremors in her voice. Just hearing Katie's talk of having someone she'd thought she couldn't have was making everything come up to haunt her.

Blossom wasn't supposed to be thinking about him, she wasn't! It was wrong, not only that, but it was _sick_. Not only was he a completely different species than her, he was evil! The Powerpuff Girls' worst enemy, that was Mojo Jojo: moreover, he was _Blossom's _worst enemy. He'd taken advantage of her over and over again in the past, knew how she admired his intelligence and used that to his advantage. She hated him, was supposed to hate him, would always hate him. So why couldn't she stop thinking of him, daydreaming about what he might be doing at the moment, imagining conversations they might have, genius to genius? Her heart was not supposed to make sickening little sideways leaps at thoughts of the megalomanical chimp, it wasn't!

Blossom turned on her heel and began to stride purposefully towards the showers. Katie took off after her.

"Bloss, what's going on? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, I'm happy for you.', the red haired girl assured her, smiling. "Trust me, I really am. I just sweated up a storm and I need a shower."

"But we barely-" Katie began, only to witness Blossom duck into one of the stalls, toss her clothes over the curtain and begin to run warm water. When it rained, it poured with Blossom, didn't it? First her sister Buttercup was acting mopey, then it was the leader of the Puffs, and one of her best friends to boot! It must not be easy, being a superhero.

Something felt different about the air around the shower, Katie noticed. She looked up to see steam billowing up from the stall. Blossom really was trying to wash something, or someone out of her hair.

---

"_Would Buttercup Utonium please report to the front office? Buttercup Utonium to the front office, please."_

Buttercup looked up from the math problem she'd been working on, and up towards the intercom on the ceiling. What could the principal want with her anyway? She hadn't done anything that disruptive recently, right?

"Buttercup, you may be excused." the math instructor said. "I'll let you make the test up after school if you're late."

The black haired girl nodded, rising from her seat. She tried to resist wheeling around and telling that cluster of girls in the back of the room that were giggling at her to shut up. It was the same thing every time with that group: _Oh, Buttercup's in trouble again, she just can't watch her temper. I wonder what kind of mess she's gotten into this time. Do you think she finally snapped and attacked a teacher for once? _She'd done no such thing, honestly, she had no idea what she was needed for up there. It was probably something really stupid.

She made her way out of her classroom and into the hall, gritting her teeth a little. Idiots, how could they know what she was going through? And what did the principal need her for anyway?

Only one way to find out, the green Puff decided, as she began to half-jog down the hallway and towards the front office. Her best plan of action was to get this over with, then she could get back to class, finish her math test, and daydream...about Princess?

_Yuck, no way!, _Buttercup thought. Where did that stupid idea come from?

She finally arrived at the front office doors. It was now or never, wasn't it? That considered, she pushed the door open, to reveal the school principal and someone else. The newcomer looked every inch of a stereotypical butler: snobbish, well-groomed, put together. The black haired girl swallowed. She knew _exactly _who sent him.

"Oh, there you are, Buttercup." the Principal said. He checked his watch. "Early too. Funny, usually you do everything in your power to avoid coming here."

Buttercup wasn't listening. She was too busy eyeing the butler: yes, he'd definitely been sent courtesy of one Princess Morbucks. There was only one thing she could've wanted that would involve the front office.

"Look" the green Puff said, fixing the butler with an icy stare, "whatever she claims I did to her on Saturday is a lie. We just yelled at each other a lot, then I left. That's all. I'm already in enough trouble with that brat as it is. I'm sure you got to hear her whole pity party about her rib- and if it's about the rib, it was a hairline fracture, not a full-out break. She'll heal, so don't come after me about it!"

"Miss Morbucks sent me to retrieve you." the butler responded. "If it has anything to do with your quarrels, she has said nothing about it in the least."

Buttercup was perplexed. "Retrieve me? She's starting that game up already?"

"Game? I have no idea what you mean by this. Miss Morbucks simply wanted your company this afternoon."

"I've signed you out for the day, don't worry about it." the principal said. Buttercup noticed the stack of dollar bills poking out of his pocket. It figured.

"Fine." the black haired girl told the butler. "But I mean it, if this is another excuse for her to whine in my ear, I'm leaving."

The butler gave no indication of having heard her. Instead he made his way out of the office silently. Buttercup followed him out, wondering why she was a little excited about seeing Princess again.

---

There she sat in the back of the limousine, waiting for her when Buttercup arrived, none other than Princess Morbucks. The redhead was dolled up in a gold blazer/skirt combo, and her hair was tied back instead of pulled into pigtails like usual. She looked like a young business woman, to a point. If it wasn't for the sling one of her arms still sat in, one would have thought that nothing was wrong with her at all.

"Hello, Buttercup." she said, a thin smile on her face. "I didn't expect you to come so quickly. Did Alfred make you come, or-"

The green Puff was idling by the open door of the limo. "I wanted to come, okay?" she said. "I do have a free will, you know."

Princess motioned towards the seat next to her. "Well sit down, I don't have all day." As Buttercup took a seat, the redhead cleared her throat. "Well, what do you say?" She paused, waiting for a response. "Excuse me, but you're _supposed _to thank me, Buttercup."

"For what, letting me bask in your glory?" the black haired girl drawled sarcastically.

Princess looked miffed. "No, for the limo ride. I don't have to let you sit next to me. I could've just made you fly behind." She observed the butler taking a seat at the front. "Roll the window up, Alfred, Buttercup and I need to talk." the rich teen said. The butler obliged her, and the divider between the backseat and front went up without a sound.

"What happened to 'don't come back'?" Buttercup inquired. "Have you decided you can't live without me or something?"

The redhead flushed a little. That Buttercup, every time she thought of her in that light recently- "No, I...I'm not done chastising you." Princess said curtly, trying to disguise how her voice wavered a bit. "That's all."

"Oh, what now?" Buttercup asked. "I think you emptied the book of things to call me on Saturday, if I remember right. Did you invent some more things to tell me while you were lying around feeling sorry for yourself yesterday?"

"I can have you thrown out." the rich teen responded. "Don't forget that."

"It's the same to me." the green Puff said. She turned away and stared out the window, watching the streets of Townsville go by. Princess did nothing to stop her, at least not for several moments.

"We're going out to eat." she heard the redhead say after a few moments. "You can't act out in a restaurant, and I can tell you whatever I want, since _I _don't throw myself around like an animal when I'm upset." She laughed quietly. "We're on my home turf: the other people around there are on my side, not yours. They can't stand you three any more than I can."

"So, if you hate the Powerpuffs, why is one riding next to you?" Buttercup asked.

Princess frowned. "_Because_, that's why! Because I'm the Princess, and I said so!"

Buttercup shook her head. "Maybe that logic works on your father, but it doesn't work on me. Don't even try it."

"Oh really?" Princess inquired. "So tell me, Buttercup, why are you here? I'm evil, you're good, you're supposed to hate me as much as I hate you, yet you came right out when I told you to. Don't get hypocritical on me." She motioned to a shopping bag sitting by her feet. "Your clothes are in there."

"My clothes?"

"Well, of course." the redhead responded, as if this were an extremely stupid question. "Do you really think I'd take you anywhere dressed the way _you _dress? Go ahead, take them."

Buttercup retrieved the bag, an incredulous look on her face. "You bought me clothes." she muttered.

"Of course not! One of the maids did. I'm not wasting my money on you." Princess said. "Go ahead and change: I won't look, Alfred can't see, and this is one-way glass. Go on, we have fifteen minutes before we get there. I wasn't sure about your sizes, so I told Henrietta to guess. She's a smart lady...for a maid."

Buttercup extracted the outfit from the bag: green silk button down with gold cufflinks, dark green dress pants, dark green suit jacket, very dark green, almost black flats. "This is something a boy would wear." the black haired girl said, looking the clothes over, a frown on her face. "Just because I'm-"

"Oh, what's it to you? You dress like a boy anyway." the redhead snapped. She closed her eyes. "Now for the last time, put them on."

"I'll do it when I feel like it." Buttercup responded. Even so, she began to change, peeling off her T-shirt and exchanging it for the button-down. In a few moments, she'd put everything on. The jacket was a little long around the sleeves, and the shoes were a size too tight, but other than that, it fit her fairly well. It wasn't half-bad in the looks department either.

Princess seemed to know instinctively when she had finished. The rich teen opened her eyes and whirled around, regarding Buttercup. "Perfect." she said. "Now you don't look _completely _like a savage."

"I can leave whenever I want." Buttercup informed her.

"Not wearing those clothes, you can't. Technically, they're mine, so you'd be stealing."

"How can you prove that, Princess?"

"I have my ways. Besides, everyone knows you can't afford an outfit like that. You're too poor."

"How do you know?"

"Please, Buttercup, it's obvious. Come back when you have a private jet of your own, then we'll talk."

"I can fly on my own: I don't need a jet."

That made Princess fall silent. The redhead stared out the window the rest of the way there.

---

The sound of her cell phone vibrating jolted Blossom out of her boredom-induced daydream. It wasn't that she didn't care about Romeo and Juliet, she'd just heard it all before: she'd read the play for fun numerous times. Besides, forbidden love was the last thing she wanted on her mind right now.

She withdrew the phone and flipped it open. "What seems to be the trouble, Mayor?" she asked. A frown creased her face as she heard the answer. "Mojo Jojo? Again? What...no, no, Mayor, we're on it!"

Bubbles could be heard on the line now as well. "Yeah, what Blossom said!" the blue Puff could be heard saying.

Well, this was just peachy, Blossom thought, as she raised her hand and waited to be called on to be excused. In all likelihood, Mojo simply wanted those philosophy books back. Maybe she should've asked before she'd taken...no, _borrowed _them.

"You may go, Blossom." the literature teacher said without looking up from the copy of the play she held. "Have fun saving the world."

"I will..." the pink Puff said half-heartedly as she made her way to the window. If this was what was going to come out of her curiosity...

---

Buttercup's cell started vibrating moments after she and Princess had left the limousine and made their way into the restaurant. Unfortunately, she'd left it in her jeans pocket, and Alfred, who still had the driver's seat window up, was beyond hearing it. The call for the toughest fighter fell on deaf ears, actually, no ears at all.

---

Buttercup didn't think of herself as an animal, not in the least, but that changed a little when she entered the Chateau de L'Argent with Princess. The rich teen was right: these were her people, dressed up in the most expensive ways possible, making sure that everyone knew how rich they were via their jewelry and gadgets. This was definitely the snobbish quadrant of Townsville.

"Hello, table for two, please." Princess told the maitre d. The man nodded, and wordlessly escorted the two girls to a small table by a large window. The view outside was lovely: you could see how carefully the gardens around her had been kept, down to the last petal.

Princess sat down delicately, smirking at the trapped look Buttercup had on her face as the green Puff sat down in the most awkward fashion possible. Oh, she'd taunted her back in the hospital, but now Princess was fighting on her own turf, today and on Saturday. Any way the perfect little Powerpuff went, she couldn't win. The rich teen would see to that.

"Should I help you with that napkin?" she asked Buttercup, who was struggling to figure out how to unfold the cloth. Before the black haired girl could respond, Princess reached over, snatched it, and unfolded it, and passed it back without a word.

Oh dear, if she didn't know how to unfold one of their napkins, seeing her eat would be a disaster. Everyone the Morbucks estate knew would make fun of her, that was nearly a guarantee! She knew it was a bad idea, of all the Powerpuffs to take along, it had to be the least cultured one! Where did she ever get the idea Buttercup was anything like her anyway?

"I set it like this, right?"

Princess looked up from her fit of peevishness, her eyes widening in surprise. Buttercup had everything perfectly arranged, down to the last salad fork.

"How did you-" the redhead began, only to pause. Buttercup was gawking again, her face a pale white color. "What now?" Princess asked in annoyance.

Buttercup didn't answer, not out loud. Inside, however was a different story. She had just realized that call it what you want: creative punishment or a pointless outing, this was a date and Princess didn't even know it. She, one of the heroic Powerpuff Girls, was sitting in a five-star restaurant across from a Townsvillain.

A loud "thud" echoed far off, near Townsville Hall. The green Puff didn't hear it: she was too busy listening to the thudding of her own heart.


	8. Realizing

Blossom Utonium was thoroughly peeved. It wasn't because Mojo Jojo had decided to use one of his robots to menace Townsville Hall with a giant laser, oh no. That was more of a blessing: it took her mind off of any of those disturbing pro-Mojo thoughts and onto thoughts of the more heroic sort: the most effective way to beat the snot out of the megalomanical ape. After an afternoon of her wrestling with her conscience, she was ready to act like a real hero again, not some lovesick twit. After all, when he was threatening everyone in Townsville Hall with a mounted laser and making a long list of demands, all involving his ownership of the city, it was hard _not _to be angry at Jojo.

Buttercup's absence, that was what irked Blossom. Usually the tomboy was racing to get to the fight, any fight, yet today, she was curiously absent. It probably tied into the other odd details surrounding the green Puff: her moodiness, her strange absence on Saturday. At any rate, it made a gaping hole in the red haired girl's attack plan. She certainly couldn't execute a triangle formation strike with only two points, could she?

The pink Puff narrowed her eyes at the mech she and Bubbles were taking on. Mojo had certainly been working hard on this one: they'd both been pounding on it for a while, to little effect. She wondered what At any rate, the chimp had turned the laser away from Townsville Hall and on the girls, who were doing a good job of avoiding it, leaving the rays to create property damage behind them. Small favors.

Bubbles had seemed visibly relieved as well. She did very concerned about the Mayor: Blossom remembered the blue Puff remarking how terrible it would be if they ever were too late when he needed it the most, how she'd feel awful if Mojo pressured him (via that giant laser) to surrender control of his city or otherwise harmed the old man in some way. Blossom didn't bother pointing out that Ms. Bellum could easily- well most of the time- dissuade the Mayor from anything resembling surrendering to a Townsvillain. Still, Bubbles had a point, and hadn't they always rushed in to help the Mayor with everything? The youngest of the Puffs seemed to care a bit more, though.

The red haired girl readied another attack on the robot, signaling at Bubbles to move in as well. Mojo was probably laughing behind that two-way glass, ridiculing her for trying to take him on with a plan like this, one that had had to be changed at the last minute.

_We'll see who comes up with the faulty plans, Mojo., _Blossom thought as she and Bubbles charged forwards simultaneously, hoping to knock the large, apelike robot off-balance. _We'll certainly see about that._

She put all her fury at him into the following strike.

---

Either Princess was oblivious to Buttercup's shock, or she was ignoring it completely. The latter was probably true, the green Puff decided, as she observed the rich teenager lay out her napkin and silverware (quite a feat since she had to do it all one-handed), all the while prattling on about life, riches, and everything else that Buttercup couldn't give a rip about.

"Last year, Daddy and I went to Citysville. That's a really neat city, much more impressive than Townsville. I wonder where all their villains are, though. Anyway, I got to take a tour of the city hall, then we toured the art museum, and Daddy even bought me my own exhibition wing there! You should see it sometime: It's full of art commissioned by Morbucks Manor."

"Let me guess." Buttercup said. "Of you?"

"Who else?" Princess responded, as if this were a very dumb question. "But really, have you seen it? They made a gold statue of me last month. She's almost as pretty as I am. She has diamonds for eyes, and...oh, what is it _this _time?" The redhead narrowed her eyes at Buttercup, who was staring guiltily down at her napkin and wondering when the waiter would hurry up and wait on them.

"I can't go." the black haired girl said. "We're forbidden from coming back there."

Princess smirked. "Oh, the bridge incident. They're _still _punishing you for that? That was what: eleven years ago?"

Buttercup nodded. "Yeah, I don't get it either. They must have been _really _proud of that bridge." _At any rate, I wouldn't visit a museum wing dedicated to you if they paid me_, she thought to herself.

The redhead sighed, throwing a mock-sympathetic look at Buttercup. "At least I know I'm not the only one who's unfairly punished all the time."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Do you think being rich is a walk in the park? It's not: first of all, there are all these people who are jealous of you all the time and won't respect you, and-"

"Could it be because you keep menacing Townsville?" Buttercup half-sneered, throwing a cold glance at Princess. "I mean, if we moved to worship every villain that wanted the citizen's devotion to them-"

"It's not the same thing." Princess snapped. "I'm talking about them respecting me as a lady and an heiress, not that 'take over Townsville' garbage every single one of those other subhuman freaks yaps about. I don't want them to _fear _me." _Townsville would be a nice addition after I bring them to their knees, though_, she mused. _Of course, it'd probably take more persuasion to buy the city off the Mayor again..._

The green eyed girl chuckled. "News flash, your Highness: You can't _make _people like you. I've already tried, and it doesn't work."

"I most certainly can." the brown eyed girl sniffed. "You just have no idea of what money can do in the right hands." She glanced over at Buttercup. "Besides, you like me."

Buttercup had to suppress the urge to snort loudly, reminding herself that she was in a formal setting. "What? Where did _that _come from?"

"Oh come on, Buttercup. I've told you off like the animal you are again and again, but you still keep coming back for more. Just admit it: you must like me."

"Not even as a friend." the green Puff asserted, trying to sound as grim as possible.

The rich teen giggled at Buttercup's stony seriousness. "Liar." she said. "Come on, a hero following around a villain? 'Like' has to play some role in it. Well, unless you finally have gone nuts or something."

"You're not the first villain I've associated with just because." Buttercup said. "I hang out with the Gangreen Gang once in a while, doesn't mean I _like _any of them." However, it would seem a couple of them, ecspecially Ace, liked her. At least she knew why she'd never said yes to the advances...well, _that _and the whole being evil and that "using her to betray her sisters once" thing.

"Yes, we've already established that. They're all the wrong gender." Princess responded, her tone venomous.

Buttercup sighed. "Could we talk for five minutes without bringing that up?"

Princess shrugged. "It's the truth." She moved to change the subject almost immediately. "So tell me: what's it like being a Powerpuff Girl?"

The green Puff had to suppress the urge to ram her forehead against the table. Princess did not know when to get off this!

"It's just like being a normal girl, really." Buttercup responded, trying not to grit her teeth, "except you have superpowers and have to beat the tar out of a few villains once in a while. It's really not all that great."

"Of course you'd say that." Princess said "You probably take all of that for granted. Since you were born with them and all." She looked away for a few moments, probably sulking, and then turned her attentions back on Buttercup, a quizzical look on her face. "While we're on the subject, how does a normal girl live anyway?"

"Like you, except without the mansion, all the fancy junk, and the piles of money." the black haired girl stated. "Well, and sometimes we have to do chores when we want money to do things with."

Princess went pale. "You mean your father uses you as a servant? He doesn't hire any kind of help? That's awful!" However, the image of the Powerpuffs slaving away under the crack of a whip did make her smile, she had to admit that.

"The Professor does not use any of us as servants." Buttercup said irritably. "He...oh, sheesh, I can't explain chores! We do things and we get paid. That's it."

"You don' t have to be so snooty about it." Princess responded, her voice taking on a snobby tone. "I was only asking how you peons lived. You should thank me for actually caring, to be perfectly honest."

"Whatever." the green Puff muttered. She heard footsteps and sighed in relief. Here came the waiter. At least now she'd get a bit of a break.

---

As quickly as the fight had begun, it was over. As tough as the Robo-Mojo's metal hide was, it was also on the heavy side, and slow too. Once Blossom and Bubbles finally pushed it over (a trip wire Bubbles made out of a nearby powerline helped), it took a while for the mech to right itself. That gave the sisters more than enough time to hammer through the machine's exoskeleton and for Blossom extract the super-intelligent chimp sitting at its controls. Bubbles had flitted off, probably to chit-chat with the Mayor.

Blossom shook her head sadly as she trotted beside Mojo Jojo, who was being led towards a police van. "Honestly, when are you going to learn?" she asked. " That robot was downright easy to take out! You should work on how you lay out these plans of yours."

"So claims the Powerpuff who only came in with one other Powerpuff." Mojo said, his eyes fixed ahead on the police van.

It was a small comfort to Blossom to find that he was still as annoyed with her as ever. She decided to push it further.

"Well, that was an unforeseen circumstance." the pink Puff stated. "Buttercup just didn't show up. We took you out anyway, didn't we?" She smiled. "In fact, I probably could have taken you out by myself."

That got Mojo's attention. The chimp wheeled around, eyes glinting. "Are you insinuating that I am so weak, pathetic, and insignificant as to be taken out by only one, rather than three- three being the number of you I usually face- Powerpuffs?" he inquired angrily. The police man who'd been hauling him off was now standing there and letting Mojo speak his piece. Still, he kept the megalomaniac handcuffed. "It is there where you are incorrect, Blossom, for it is you who have committed the erroneous judgment and made the mistake of ever thinking that I, Mojo Jojo, would ever stoop to letting someone as worthless, as weak as you have accused me of being, as you and only you-"

"Yeah, I know." Blossom responded. "You're too strong and smart for just one of us, aren't you?"

Mojo narrowed his eyes. "If I were you, Blossom, I would refrain from letting that tone of condescension creep into your voice; that is no way to address me ecspecially after the criminal act that you yourself have perpetrated."

"What would that be, Mojo?" Blossom asked. Somehow, she knew exactly what the answer would be.

"My books!" the chimp exclaimed. Now the policeman had to struggle to keep Townsville's most notorious villain from lunging forwards at Blossom, handcuffs or none. "My encyclopedias filled with scientific knowledge, which could only be useful in the hands of a true genius, which means only you or I would have use for them, which you stole, that is to say, you broke into my observatory and took them without my permission, for I was not there to give you the authority to take the books-"

Blossom cut him off. "I was only borrowing them." she stated, as if this were the most logical thing in the world. "I had every intention of giving them back, eventually."

Inside, she flinched a little at her words. Was this how it ran? If Mojo was to run off with anything of hers, she would have beaten him to a pulp, but if she was to swipe a few of his texts, just because she felt like it, to be honest, it was okay? Maybe she was really no better than he was at all. Maybe she deserved to be tortured by these feelings. Maybe she wasn't all good, not like she'd always seen herself...

She wouldn't let a hint of that surface on her face, though. Instead, she simply sighed, shook her head, and nodded at the police officer. "You can take him away now." she informed the cop.

He nodded, and began to lead Mojo off. The chimp showed no sign of resisting, instead he stared after Blossom, his eyes gleaming accusingly with something between hate and...something else. The leader of the Powerpuffs couldn't quite figure it out. In the back of her mind, another possibility was brewing at the exact same time: suppose he had wanted an excuse to shout at her, and this was it? Suppose it was intentional? What a narcissistic thought to think, she mused, banishing any such consideration. That would never happen, not in a million years!

"I'll give them back." she called as Mojo Jojo was loaded into the police van. "They'll be waiting for you when you're out of there."

Mojo gave no sign of having heard her, at least not audibly. Yet as the police van drove away, Blossom swore she could hear him on the wind, via her ultrasonic hearing.

"_Curses."_

---

"But don't these people know you're a villain?" Buttercup asked between bites of caviar. She'd balked at the idea of even _looking _at something that was fish eggs at first, but had warmed up to the stuff fairly quickly, probably because it was salty. It helped if she closed her eyes. "I mean, they all look proper, so-"

Princess rolled her eyes. "Once again, you have no idea about anything." she responded, her voice lowering. "Just because they're rich doesn't mean they're all-righteous like you."

Buttercup formed another forkful of caviar and shoved it into her mouth. She didn't notice how Princess was flinching every time she did so, and wouldn't have cared if she did. As far as the green Puff was concerned, she was being as polite as she could be. "Excuse me for being curious." she muttered. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not rich."

Princess was eyeing Buttercup now, noticing the tiny bits of food on that- she had to admit- oddly handsome face. So disgraceful! "Well, in case _you _haven't noticed, I'm not a peon like you, either, but that didn't stop you from being rude to me when I asked about your lifestyle."

"Could you talk about people like me without using the word 'peon' for once? It's called 'middle-class'. We're not peasants, and you're not royalty. Deal with it."

Princess put her head to one side thoughtfully for a moment. "I don't want to." she said tartly. "I have my things to call your ilk, and that's final." Before Buttercup could respond, Princess leaned forwards a little, motioning to a rather prim-looking woman sipping wine near them. "Mina Kingsolver." she whispered. "She's an heiress, like me."

Buttercup wasn't impressed. "So?"

"She drowned her husband in their swimming pool last year." the rich teen responded. "Everyone knows about it, she just got off because she was rich. And those guys-" here she motioned to a trio of suit-clad men a few tables back, a slender, silver haired, middle-aged fellow, and the two hulking, gorilla-like musclemen flanking him, "Well, I bet you can guess what they do for a living. Why would anyone here care about what _I _do? If anything, _you're _the enemy."

The black haired girl pursed her lips tightly. That would account for the strange prickling she'd felt on the back of her neck for the longest time. Of course she'd be recognized, black hair, bright green eyes. What did she expect?

"You only remind them of a Powerpuff, though." Princess whispered, giggling a little. "Officially, they think you're male."

Buttercup wasn't amused in the least. "Oh, so this whole thing was a ploy to make you look good. 'Oh, look, Princess has finally got a boyfriend.' Right?"

Princess frowned, leaning back in her chair. "I don't have to keep explaining myself to you." the redhead informed her. Her brown eyes zeroed in on the food around her "dinner date's" mouth. Without a word, she removed her napkin from her lap and proceeded to move forwards.

"What now?" Buttercup asked, only to find Princess dabbing at her face with the napkin, then wiping the last few crumbs of caviar off, then- was she?- caressing the green Puff's face, using the napkin as an excuse, as she used her hand to trace along the curves of Buttercup's lips, her chin, her cheeks...the black haired girl noticed how calm Princess looked all of a sudden. The redhead's eyes were barely open, no she was letting the sense of touch guide her, and it was a lover's caress, even if a napkin separated Princess's touch from her flesh, then the napkin was off, and it was Princess tracing those contours, only Princess, a villain, yet her touch was so gentle as it moved-

"More caviar?" the waiter asked, somewhere in a distant galaxy.

The spell was broken. Princess flushed and looked at her hand, which had been working its way down to Buttercup's neck. She snatched it back, as if the appendage had been possessed by some sort of malevolent spirit. "I'm fine." the rich teen said. "And my companion here-"

Buttercup tried not to let any disappointment creep into her eyes as she spoke. She was just getting some crumbs off your face, that was all, she reminded herself. This was Princess Morbucks, it was no big deal if she didn't care about Buttercup or she did. Theirs was supposed to be a relationship full of hate anyway. "Is fine as well." she said. "What's next?"

Princess shot a dirty look at Buttercup, as if the green Puff had just committed the biggest social _faux pas _in the world. "You may bring the dessert." she told the waiter, who nodded and headed off.

The two sat there in silence for a few moments, until Princess piped up.

"So rude." the rich teenager hissed, narrowing her eyes. "'What's next?' This is a place for Townsville's cultural elite, not a pig sty! Are you deliberately setting out to embarrass me now?"

That "huge slip-up" was of no concern to Buttercup at the moment. The green Puff shivered a little inside, still remembering the redhead's strange tenderness, the touches, if only on her face, that went on a bit too long. She stared at the redhead, hearing the thumping of her heart grow louder, more intense.

"Princess..."

"Oh, _that_." Princess said disdainfully. She smiled inwardly at Buttercup's disappointment. "You had something on your face, that was all. Don't start reading into it, for crying out loud."

Buttercup frowned. This girl was lying: she had seen that same expression all over Bubbles's face as the blue Puff fussed over, and was fussed over in return by all her successive boyfriends. There had been an intent behind that touch, and it wasn't just for removing caviar crumbs.

"I wouldn't mind." the green Puff continued quietly, shocked at the words pouring out of her mouth. "I'd be surprised, but that's really all...I mean, are you? Would you? I mean if I wasn't me-"

"Never." the redhead responded, frowning. "I don't roll that way, you pervert. I won't even ask what planted those disgusting ideas into your head."

Then why all these gestures? Why the clothes, the date, the invite to her house, the strange openness, this sudden insistence on having Buttercup by her side? That wasn't flirting at all? If not, what were you supposed to call it? And why was she so dang concerned with anything involving the 'L' word, ecspecially with this particular girl?

She was letting history repeat itself, Buttercup realized, and she felt sick to her stomach. She was trying to make Princess into a second Robyn, place a hidden subtext behind each and every word spoken when there was none. She was just going to make one huge misjudgment after another, until-

Princess brought her back down to earth again. "You don't have to overreact. I'm just stating the obvious." the redhead told her. Buttercup couldn't help but notice how there was just the slightest hint of pink near Princess's freckled cheeks, though. Perhaps there was hope then.

"I...I know." Buttercup responded, though it was obvious that she hadn't accepted a word Princess had said just then.

Princess wasn't accepting anything Buttercup had been saying either. _She keeps looking you up and down, _she told herself_, and I can only imagine what she's thinking about._

Inwardly, she was disgusted at how kind, generous and just downright un-Princess-like she was being. This wasn't like her at all, to give instead of take, and to a Powerpuff, of all things! Buttercup could ruin it all at any moment, yet she was letting this girl into _everything_. Okay, she admitted it: she did like her a little...but as a casual acquaintance, not as anything else! She liked Buttercup's way of running things, admired how easily Buttercup would function on the side of darkness, that was all. She wasn't really after Buttercup herself!

_Yet...all the boys I kissed in the past, snobby little rats, they said I was cold, like I didn't really want any of it. Even if they had been perfect, it still would have felt somehow wrong, somehow off. But if I was even to _think_- oh, how gross!- to kiss girls, _Powerpuffs_, I can only imagine it! Nauseating. And the press, they'd never respect their Princess after that._

"Princess, I'm s-sorry." Buttercup told her, a bit ashamed of how hard it still was to get those words out of her mouth after all these years.

Princess still couldn't stop her eyes from widening at the sound of any sort of apology. "Um, well, why now, Buttercup?" she asked, happy that she'd hear the green Puff ask for forgiveness once again.

"I didn't mean to put you on the spot, okay?"

"Fine. I don't care. Apology accepted."

As the dessert, creme brulee, was set in front of them, Princess let her eyes travel to Buttercup again, after making sure that the girl was only looking at the food. Pathetic that she was thinking of excuses to touch her even now, this girl had broken a rib, temporarily lamed one of her arms in the process, left her with numerous bruises and scrapes over the years, then why was it like this? She was no masochist, and certainly not a double agent. Hate was hate, and she loathed this girl, cursed her as she attended to her wounds, winced at the tenderness of the fracture. But...

"I want-" she breathed quietly.

Buttercup looked up. "What?"

"I-"

_Want to touch you, Buttercup, want to see if I'm right about this, want to...maybe I'll try that kiss, but it's for me, not for you...want you to want me back..._

"I want you to come with me tomorrow." she told the green Puff, ashamed inside for what she had _almost _said.

Buttercup looked at her in confusion, a forkful of creme brulee halfway raised to her mouth. "Where to?"

"Shopping, hiking, flying over the ocean, shooting up into outer space, I don't care!" Princess snapped. "I just want you with me."

"I have school." the black haired girl said. "In case you haven't guessed, I kind of do want to graduate."

"Big deal." Princess told her. "I'm flunking, probably. My tutor doesn't want a thing to do with me half of the time. Do you think I care?"

"My parents certainly care if I fail. I'm not at your beck and call, your royal highness."

"Stop that. I'm _Princess_. Miss Morbucks, if you want to be proper."

"Whatever."

"Don't 'whatever' me.", Princess sneered. She paused in thought for a moment. "I want you with me tomorrow afternoon, whenever you're out of school."

Buttercup eyed the rich teenager, who looked like she was on the verge of pouting. "You could say 'please' for once in your life."

Princess curled her upper lip. "Fine. Please!", she spat.

"Oh, I don't know.", Buttercup responded. "Wouldn't it kill you to be seen with one of the Powerpuff Girls? The press would have a field day, and I'd hate to see what the rest of the villains would think..."

Without warning, Princess lurched to her feet. The redhead tossed a stack of dollar bills on the table and headed out, surprisingly swift in high heels. She looked miffed.

Buttercup hesitated for a few moments, then trailed off after her. It couldn't hurt anything.

---

"Princess?"

She scanned the area, but couldn't find a sign of the girl anywhere in front of the restaurant. Her limousine was nowhere in sight, but somehow, Buttercup didn't find it plausible for Princess to have escaped via limo so quickly.

"Princess, where are you?"

She shook her head sadly as she padded around in her loafers, looking for the redhead. What was the point anyway? She'd throw a hissy-fit over the fact, so why bother? Buttercup had finished repenting, so what was her excuse this time?

_I care about her. I see me in her, and I think she sees herself in me for some reason. I do pity her, I guess._

Buttercup found the heiress sitting beneath one of the trees in the garden surrounding Chateau de L'Argent. She was hanging her head, and the green Puff realized that the redhead was holding a leaf and turning it around and around in her hand.

"Princess."

She looked up. "Come any closer and you'll be wearing your tonsils for a necktie.", she snapped.

Buttercup shook her head, but remained where she stood. "Princess, I didn't mean to...again, I wasn't trying to make you freak out like that."

"Oh, yeah right.", Princess said. "Just like you didn't mean to break my rib, and you didn't mean all those other times. Nobody means anything they do to me, ever."

"What?"

"Don't play dumb!", the rich teenager screamed, harpy like. "You keep acting like an idiot, but you know everything I go through! You have to!" She shuddered, looking back down at the leaf. "I'm always alone all the time. Why should I give a damn about what the other Townsvillains think? They're not my friends, hell, none of them are each others friends at all. They ridicule me all the time nowadays for being so prim and proper anyway. Just when I thought, finally, I belong to a union of people who can respect me and listen to my ideas, they turn on me. It's just been a volley of jokes about how much I love my money and how I can't stand to get my hands dirty. Even Sedusa gets in on it sometimes, and I was certain..."

"They're all bad seeds.", Buttercup said. "That or idiots and miscreants who stumble around trying to be bad seeds. I don't see what your point is." She laughed. "You're rich and powerful, aren't you?"

"I'm an accessory.", Princess said quietly. "Daddy wants me out of the way, so he buys me things. And I take them, and when I get loud again, he buys me more things. I only have power because of him." She shook her head. "I still don't like the sound of your father at all, using you like that. At least he's not-" She shook her head. "Lately, I wonder if Daddy really wants me around at all, if I wasn't an accident or something."

Buttercup couldn't help herself. She laughed. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm an accident as well."

Princess didn't smile. "Did they want you out of the way? Did other people laugh at you when you wanted them to love you?"

"Yeah.", Buttercup responded. "My sisters and I almost destroyed the city on our first day out and about. They hated us for a while there."

"But they grew to love you."

"We had to prove ourselves."

"_I _tried to prove myself. You tossed me aside anyway. Everyone does."

Buttercup sighed, crossing over to where Princess was and sitting down beside her. "Princess, I kind of know where you're coming from. I guess. But if you don't let people in-"

She turned to regard the green Puff. "I don't need 'people', Buttercup. I need _you_. As much as it pains me to say this, you're the only person in this city who actually makes a little bit of sense."

"You too...to a point.", Buttercup responded.

She reached over, tentative at first, but grew bolder, and took Princess's hand in hers. The rich teenager's grip was soft and delicate, but Buttercup could also feel calluses there, from years of training to beat her and her sisters. Surprisingly, Princess didn't snatch her hand back at all.

"Don't get any ideas.", Princess said quietly. "I'm not taking any of your flak, Buttercup."

"Neither am I, Princess. You wanna make something of it?"

The rich teenager rose to her feet, still holding Buttercup's hand. "We'll see.", she said. She removed her hand from the embrace and moved to check her watch. "I bet they're wondering where you are. I'll let you go, but you'll have to-"

"I will. But after school.", Buttercup responded. "Oh, and Princess?"

"What?"

"Thanks for the meal and the new threads."

Before the rich teenager could say another word, Buttercup was up, up and away in a streak of green light, leaving her behind. She shook her head, not knowing rather to scream, smile, celebrate, retch, or what. She'd just spilled her guts to someone she hated like a weeping little girl, but she didn't care at all.

Princess moved to feel her own pulse, which was quickening a bit: from excitement? Who knew?

"What is wrong with me?"


	9. Bonding

Even in her dreams that night, she could smell the scent of Princess's perfume, could recall what it was like to hold her hand tenderly, comforting her. As she cuddled underneath her comforter, a thought flickered across her subconscious; being part of a dream, she did not fling the suggestion away as she would have in daylight.

_I love her a little. Maybe she loves me back._

---

No one had remarked on her absence yesterday at all, Buttercup observed that morning as the three got ready for school. For once, the black haired girl was a little upset at the realization. Didn't her family care if she left or stayed? Typical of them, just typical. If Blossom or Bubbles went missing, they'd probably have the matter on the front page of all the newspapers within an hour. On the other hand, she was better off not opening her mouth to find out. Imagine what Blossom would think of her, swooning, and over a villain no less!

"Blossom, which one looks better? This one or this one?" Bubbles was holding up two pairs of Mary-Janes for the pink Puff's inspection as the three dressed for school that morning . One pair was sky blue, the other was a slightly different shade of sky blue.

"They look alike, Bubble-Brain." Buttercup sneered as she pulled on a pair of jeans.

Bubbles smiled a little, hearing one of her old nickname's, then frowned. "They do not, _Buttercup_." she stated. "This pair here brings out the color of my eyes more, and this pair here coordinates with my outfits more." She turned her attentions back to Blossom, who was gazing placidly into her vanity mirror and combing out her hair. "So which ones do you think, Blossom? Robin's egg blue or morning sky blue?"

"Actually, they both look good on you, Bubbles." the red haired girl said. She sounded a little distant, always sounded that way when things were on her mind. It was probably school, Buttercup thought bitterly. If only Blossom had to deal with anything resembling her problems.

"I know, Blossom." the blue Puff responded, sounding a little exasperated, "but which ones do you think would look better for _today_? The eye shoes or the outfit shoes?"

"Dressing up for John?" Buttercup asked.

Bubbles wheeled around. " That...that's none of your beeswax, Buttercup!" She smoothed her pale blue gypsy skirt and muttered "Maybe I should take the outfit shoes."

Buttercup wasn't quite done teasing Bubbles just yet. She hadn't been felt like this in a long time, and she wasn't about to waste the opportunity for some fun. "Maybe take both pairs, then you can ask your date what he thinks." She smirked. "After all, the sun rises and sets with John, doesn't it?"

Now the blonde looked a bit irked. "You should talk!" she snapped. "What about that nice outfit you bought to wear on your da-" Here she stopped herself, biting down on her tongue. "Sorry." she whispered, glancing nervously at Buttercup.

The green Puff wasn't buying it. "What do you think you're doing?" she hissed. "Trying to make me look bad?"

Blossom, on the other hand, hadn't responded to any of this, not out loud at least. The red haired girl smiled faintly, wondering if what she'd suspected all along about Buttercup might really be true, ecspecially since that new outfit of hers looked far out of her price range. And if it was-

_At least I wouldn't be the only one with a secret, _the leader of the Powerpuffs thought.

"I just bought that thing 'cause I grew out of my old formal clothes, _Bubbles_." Buttercup lied, throwing a contemptuous glance at her closet, where the outfit Princess had bought for her hung. It was half-true: Buttercup had grown by about an inch or so over the summer, making her the tallest of the three girls at five feet, seven inches. She'd often joked that her one goal in life was to crack six feet. "Why would I ever do any of that stupid girly hugs-and-kisses stuff, anyway?"

"Buttercup-" Bubbles began.

Buttercup didn't respond; the black haired girl only threw a silent glance at her younger sister. _Not now_, her eyes seemed to say.

The blue Puff nodded solemnly. Recovering, she pulled on the first pair of Mary-Janes and stuffed the other pair in her backpack. "That's a good idea, anyway." she said. "John probably _would _know."

Blossom tied her bow into her hair, and faced her sisters. "Am I in the middle of something here?" she asked.

Bubbles and Buttercup shook their heads in unison, as the two moved to finish packing for school.

---

"Hey, Bubbles?"

Bubbles looked up from the latest of her letters to the Mayor to find Robyn standing in front of her. The blue Puff tucked the letter into her binder and motioned for the brunette to take a seat next to her at the cafeteria table. Her best friend looked different, Bubbles noted; Robyn wore more makeup than usual, and her new green dress was a little on the revealing side. That did it: it was a new boyfriend, and judging by the way Robyn was dressed, it was one of the "bad" ones. This had to be good.

"So, who is it, Robyn?", Bubbles asked, flashing a knowing smile at her friend. "One of the dangerous guys at school?"

_Unless it's...no, it couldn't be _those _dangerous guys..._

Robyn giggled a little. "Well, sort of. Actually, he doesn't even know I'm that interested yet, and he doesn't go to this school. But I do like him...a lot." She blushed a little. "And I...um..."

"You need my help?", Bubbles asked. She was happy to play matchmaker for just about any girl in the school; little made her happier than seeing people get along with each other: her sisters, prospective boyfriends and girlfriends, anyone. "Okay, but if you don't tell me who it is, I can't help you." She waited, trying to ignore the strange, nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Robyn looked away. "I want to, Bubbles, but first, you have to promise you won't get mad at me like Buttercup did."

Bubbles laughed. "I won't, Robyn. I promise. I'm nothing like Buttercup, you know that." She didn't bother pointing out that Buttercup lashed out because she'd had her heart broken.

"I'm just saying: it's not someone you'd approve of."

"Oh?" Bubbles shuddered a little inside. Judging by what Robyn had just said, this probably wasn't going to be something she wanted to hear.

Sure enough, Robyn proceeded to fulfill all of Bubbles's suspicions. "You know the Rowdyruff Boys, right? I have my eye on the one in green, Butch. He's cute and hardcore and interesting- I mean, he's like a berserker, you know?-, and I think he kind of likes me too." The brown haired girl bit her lip nervously. "Bubbles, I know they're bad guys and you're a hero and all, but if you'd help me get close to Butch, I'm sure I can-"

"Robyn, I don't think that's a good idea." There, she'd said it. Now to deflect the protests.

Robyn looked miffed. "That's exactly what Buttercup said! Just because Butch doesn't act like most boys do, that's no reason why I can't give him my love. If I could just talk to him, maybe he'd see I'm not a terrible person to know. Bubbles, you know I'm not a terrible person!"

"I think you're a wonderful person.", the blue Puff said. "It's just not a good idea: Butch always hangs out with his brothers, and all three of the Rowdyruffs have the same powers as me and my sisters. It's really hard for all three of us to fight them, and if it's just me out there-"

"Then get Blossom and Buttercup to come with you!", Robyn said, her voice taking on a petulant tone. "Please, if it makes it safer-"

"Robyn, do you really think my sisters would listen? Blossom can't stand any those guys at all, and Buttercup...well, you already heard her opinion on those three."

"How could I forget?", Robyn muttered. "Buttercup didn't have to be so nasty about it, don't you think?"

"She had her reasons to be."

Robyn opened her mouth, ready to ask if that piece of gossip she'd heard about Buttercup this morning really was true, thought better of it, and changed the subject. "Bubbles, I'm asking you as a friend: please help me. I promise, if Butch or his brothers try attacking, we'll leave."

Bubbles shook her head. "And I'm telling you as a friend: I can't do that, Robyn. I'm sorry."

---

Buttercup was in a much better mood that morning, in fact, she was happy enough not to care about the difference in the way she was being treated. Girls and boys alike were staring at her, pointing and whispering. Elmer had been avoiding her in gym, and Robyn had thrown a puzzled glance at her in English class. Maybe they'd figured it out, the black haired girl mused. Maybe, after all this time, they'd put everything together on their own.

For some odd reason, she didn't care that much at first. Being found out like this comforted her a little bit; it wasn't her fault or Bubbles' like she thought it might be, plus she'd no longer have to worry about being outed. Of course, she could be wrong, the stares might have been caused by some other crazy piece of gossip, and then, there would still be Blossom, her parents, the rest of Townsville-

She would have to work it out, somehow. It would be the hardest thing Buttercup would ever have to do, but wasn't she up to any challenge? Eventually, they'd find out, she'd have to deal with it, and maybe, just maybe look into actually dating out in the open.

It wasn't going to happen that way. Things fell apart too quickly. And as they did, the toughest fighter would soon find herself deeper and deeper trouble.

It began that afternoon, right before her final class of the day. If she hadn't been so aggressive, everything would have been fine. As it was...

"Hey, you!"

Buttercup, who was en route to Biology, wheeled around to find a grimy looking boy she didn't really recognize idling around the drinking fountain.

"What do _you _want?", she asked.

"Oh, I was just curious about something.", the boy responded. "See, my pals and I were wondering: how do you get girls? Do you go around asking if they're as dykey as you are, or do you just grab them off the street, rip off their clothes, and go for it?"

Buttercup's eyes widened in shock and anger. "You...who do you think you are?! That's sick!"

"Not as sick as you, lesbo.", the boy sneered, striding up to Buttercup. "I can't believe people actually think you're a perfect hero. You're a disgusting little pervert! How do you go on living?"

"It's easy, really.", Buttercup said. She was trying her hardest to stay calm and refrain from sucker-punching this idiot. "I eat, I sleep, I do other stuff. You know, what people do to live. What, does liking someone of the same sex means you have to drop dead?"

"The world would be a better place,", the boy hissed. "if there weren't any of you sick freaks committing crimes against nature-"

Without thinking, Buttercup punched the boy in the face, knocking out two teeth and reducing his nose to a bloody, swollen mess. He went flying, sliding on his rear for about three feet before coming to a full stop, knocking his head on the opposite wall in the process.

"You-", he began, before loosing consciousness.

Before Buttercup herself could react, the sound of excited voices carried down the hallway. It would seem that her outburst hadn't gone unnoticed, as a cluster of students swarmed around her and the now silent boy. Their expressions varied wildly, some shocked, some pleased, some confused, some disgusted. Almost immediately, many of them moved to address Buttercup: Why had she done this, how did it feel, was what he said true, if she had any bold words for the administrators. The green Puff might have muttered an answer to a few of those questions, she wasn't sure. At any rate, the response was the same: one of the administrators came running in, a look of shock on her face.

"Buttercup!", she half-whispered, gazing upon the Puff. "I can't believe this: beating up a defenseless civilian like that. How...how did you-"

"He deserved it.", Buttercup said nonchalantly, looking over at the boy's slumped form. "You should've heard some of the things he said."

"That's no excuse.", the administrator responded. She looked frightened, as if she expected Buttercup to turn on her at any minute. "You know how the school looks at fighting, and more importantly, you know how every student in this school looks at you and the other Powerpuffs. I can't believe that a superhero, someone who has civic duties like you would stoop-"

Immediately, Buttercup began to hover a few inches off of the ground. She smirked, observing the surprised reactions of the students around her. Why stop at one display of "defiant behavior"? She'd already dug her grave, so why not go a little deeper.

"What do you think you're doing?", the administrator demanded as Buttercup rose higher and higher into the air. She started forwards and tried to grab the black haired girl's ankles. It was a futile effort: Buttercup was now far out of her reach.

"I'm leaving, what's it look like?", the green Puff snapped. She shot through the roof, leaving a gaping hole in the ceiling and a throng of very confused and upset looking people in her wake.

It wasn't until she'd flown a good distance that Buttercup realized what she'd just done. Her secret was out, she was going to be taken to task, probably suspended for attacking that boy, soon all of Townsville would hear all about...everything, and-

Well, then again, she still had a certain someone she could talk to this afternoon, didn't she? Princess, of all people. Buttercup had promised to hang out with the rich teenager, and now she really did want to. At times like this, nothing beat an exchange with your best enemy. Besides, she did have something planned for Princess as it was...

She sped off, a look of triumph on her face.

---

Princess was jolted out of her favorite soap opera by the sound of tapping on one of her windows. She paused the television, rose from her large, plush couch, and wheeled around to find Buttercup hovering outside. A thin smile surfaced on the redhead's face.

_Well, look who came speeding to her new best pal!_, she thought. _I didn't think you'd come, Buttercup. I guess I can trust you for _one _thing..._

She crossed over to the window and unlocked it, allowing Buttercup to fly inside.

"You're early.", Princess remarked as the green Puff touched down on the floor and resumed looking around her room...again. The rich teenager cleared her throat in irritation, and Buttercup's attention snapped back to her. "What happened, you just couldn't wait any longer?"

"I got in a fight. I _had _to leave.", Buttercup stated, crossing her arms.

Princess laughed. "Honestly, you are _never _going to get off of the 'I'm doing this because I have to' stuff, are you? Face it, you and I are friends."

Since when?, Buttercup almost asked, but stopped herself. "Friends, nothing more.", she said numbly. "As long as you don't start asking to join us-"

The redhead gave a half-shrug. "Joining the Powerpuffs would mean putting up with Blossom and Bubbles, and you know how I..._we _feel about them. I'll wait."

"Don't hold your breath.", Buttercup said. She looked over at the large television. "You're into the same soap opera as Ms. Keane? That one set in a hospital?"

"No, not really.", Princess responded. The rich teenager was moving to grab her purse from beside the couch. "I was bored, and there was nothing else on."

The green eyed girl laughed. "I can't stand that show! It's so fake!"

Princess laughed a bit as well as she crossed over to where Buttercup waited. "Um, yes, all soap operas are fake like that." She smiled. "Daddy does know a man in the business who's going to get me a role on one someday, though."

"If you hate soaps, why do you want to be on one?"

"Isn't it obvious, Buttercup? People look up to actresses, so if I become an actress, even on one of those stupid things-"

"People will grow to like you. I know.", Buttercup looked at the wad of dollar bills that Princess was holding in her free hand. "What are those for?"

"You, naturally.", Princess responded, thrusting them into Buttercup's palm. "We're going shopping, and you are getting some new clothes. There is no way I'm going to see you in those disgusting get-ups you wear all the time."

Without warning, Buttercup darted behind Princess, moved forwards, and gently encircled her waist, making sure not to squeeze too hard. "Not today.", she said.

Princess was thoroughly miffed now. "Get your hands off of me, Buttercup!", she snapped, trying to stomp on the green Puff's feet with her high heels and failing. "Are you trying to feel me up, because if you are, I have security-"

"I'm giving you something.", Buttercup said, trying to hold on to Princess without hurting her. "I know I can't afford a trip to a fancy restaurant or any of your snobby rich stuff, but I can give you something special."

"What, the honor of being fondled by a Powerpuff?", Princess sneered. Now she was kicking at Buttercup's shins.

"Would you just relax?!", the green Puff shouted. Princess showed no sign of having heard, though, so Buttercup had to go for plan B. She began to hover a little, floating towards the still-open window, the still-fighting Princess in her arms. "Stop it unless you want to fall.", she told the rich teenager.

"Oh, how wonderful, we're going to fly.", Princess said sarcastically. Even so, she relaxed and stopped attempting to attack Buttercup.

"No, not exactly.", Buttercup said. Without another word, she shot out of the window, Princess still in her arms.

---

"It's kind of nice from up here, isn't it?", Buttercup asked Princess as the two girls, one being carried, one doing the carrying, glided over the city, swooping between skyscrapers, floating along air currents. "They all look like ants."

"I've seen it before.", Princess responded. "How does this compare to shopping, exactly."

"Just wait for it.", Buttercup told her companion.

The two flew away from the main hub of the city, over the lower-class district, past the city limits. Sometimes a bird or two was left eating Buttercup's vapor trail, which did make Princess laugh a little in spite of herself. Still, she didn't get the point of coming all the way out here: debris was getting in her hair and dust particles were landing on her outfit, and this shirt wasn't cheap-

Finally, the two landed on hard ground. As soon as Buttercup let go of her, Princess looked around to see where they were, even as she moved to brush her clothes off and get the debris out of her hair. The two were atop a steep cliff some distance away from the city, which glinted far off. The cliff overlooked a deep lake and was dotted by a few sparse trees, which gave way to a forest some way behind them. It was a nice view, she had to admit. Still, it felt pointless.

"Alright, now what?", she asked Buttercup. "Unless you're going to pull a gift out of your pocket or something, why are we here?"

"For the view, among other things.", Buttercup told her. "I go out here to get away from everyone once in a while. This is the only place I can go without my sisters following me. They avoid it for some reason."

Princess rolled her eyes. "To be honest, I can see why. There's nothing to do here at all."

Buttercup nodded. "That's the point.", she said. " Sometimes I get sick of being pulled out of everything to run little errands for the city, so I hide out here and unwind. To be honest, I really need to unwind as it is."

"Oh, so this is why you came flying to me so quickly.", Princess said. "You're hiding out from someone?"

"I attacked somebody at school. Well, he was asking for it, anyway." She shook her head sadly. "They know, everyone at school, and soon my family, and then the press."

"Know? _Oh_, about your preferences.", Princess said. "What's the big deal anyway?"

Buttercup looked at the rich teenager in confusion. "_What_?"

"You're acting like it's some big thing. You like girls. So what, who cares? I already told you how I feel about it, so why do you think those idiots and their opinions are going to change anything? As long as I think you're okay, you're okay."

"Oh, so now you're the final authority on what's acceptable in Townsville?", Buttercup asked.

"I'm a very important person, so my opinions matter.", Princess stated. She blushed a little. "Besides, even if they start disliking you for something, we're on the same boat."

"Hardly.", Buttercup stated. "I wouldn't put being a lesbian on the same level with robbing banks."

"You know what I mean. There's a perk to not being liked by those morons anyway. They don't expect anything out of you, so you can do anything you want. They always want you to be perfect, don't they?"

"Not really.", Buttercup said. "That's more of Blossom and Bubbles's problem. I'm kind of expected to be the bad one."

"So what changed?", Princess asked. "Nothing, so stop moping about it, for crying out loud!"

Buttercup bit her tongue. Princess, for all her infinite brattiness, did have a point. She looked over at the rich teenager, who had returned to trying to pick dust particles off of her blouse. She did have a new sympathy for the girl since yesterday, and now that they were alone, she wondered if she should tell her that one other thing.

Neither told the other anything for a span of time. The two girls simply gazed out at the view, Princess still preening herself, interrupted only by an occasional gust of wind. Surprisingly, it was Princess who would make the first move that afternoon.

The redhead looked over at the green Puff, tucking a strand of her hair behind one of her ears. She wasn't sure if it was the best time to go spilling her guts to this girl, but if they really were alone, it couldn't really hurt, could it?

Princess smiled nervously as she cleared her throat to get Buttercup's attention. "You said no one else knows about this place, right?"

"Not that I know of.", Buttercup said. "Why?"

Princess flushed a little. "I want to try something." She edged a little closer to her companion. "But I mean it, don't you dare say a thing, and don't get any ideas, Buttercup!"

"I won't.", Buttercup told her, wondering if she was right about this particular "something".

She was. Princess leaned forwards and pulled Buttercup in towards her a bit as she gently kissed the tomboy on the lips. Buttercup took it from there: before Princess could react, she thrust her tongue between the rich teenager's lips and pulled her into an embrace in turn. Princess tasted of all that was rich and lush: caramel, imported chocolates, cakes, duck, cordial, Buttercup noted. For such a sour, spoiled girl, she had a sweet flavor. Princess, on the other hand, was marveling over how Buttercup, who had probably never kissed anyone in her life, could make her feel strange, tingly inside, a way that none of the boys she'd been with had ever made her feel.

The two girls did not part for a minute or so. Finally, they broke from their embrace and stepped back a little, each keenly regarding the other, still savoring the taste of their counterpart.

"This means nothing.", they said simultaneously.

"Oh really?", a third voice asked.

Princess and Buttercup both looked at one another in confusion, over their shoulders at the woods, and finally right in front of them. There hovered Blossom Utonium, a look of curiosity in her eyes and a box under her arm.

"Hello, Blossom.", Buttercup said a bit shakily. Princess just stared.


End file.
